In a Gray Calm

Sat the Minstrel in his tower
     Looking toward the leaden west
At this lovely morning hour
     Silence was his only guest
Dull and leaden now the sky;
     Dull and leaden was the sea;
Not a ripple met the eye,
     Not a vapor wandered free.
Songless was the morning bird;
     Breathless what the morning air;
Not an aspen leaf was stirred;
     Not a sound was anywhere.
But a flow of happy thought
     Welling from his heart began,
In the Muse’s urn ‘twas caught
     And in number over-ran,
Toward an Isle that dimly seen
     Lay like Odin’s dusky spear
After battle ceased between
     The Norse Gods in conflict drear.
“Let the sun forget the day
     Let the Moon forget the night.”
Sang he in his joyful lay.”
     “I have beams of sweeter light
From the blue eyes of my pet,
     From my Lyons[??] welcoming smile,
Other stars may rise and set;
     This shines o’er me all the while.
Other Harps may minstrels play,
     But the softest tone of this
Draws my gladdened heart away
     To its deeper harmonies.
Perfect peace is on the deep
     Perfect peace in air, as well;
Sea and sky together sleep
     Where they kiss[??] ye cannot tell.
Such the calm within my breast,
     Brooded by her silent love,
Such the heaven of utter rest,
     Folding her warm heart above;”

Thus the Minstrel breathes a song
     Toward that misty isle of balm
While the sea and air prolong
     Mutely their connubial calm!