And those who heard it, understood
Something of life in spirit and blood,
Something of nature's fair and good:
And while it sounded, those great souls
Did thrill as racers at the goals
And burn in all their aureoles;
But she the lady, as vapour-bound,
Stood calmly in the joy of sound,
Like Nature with the showers around:
And when it ceased, the blood which fell
Again, alone grew audible,
Tolling the silence as a bell.
The sovran angel lifted high
His hand, and spake out sovranly:
"Tried poets, hearken and reply!
"Give me true answers. If we grant
That not to suffer, is to want
The conscience of the jubilant,—
"If ignorance of anguish is
But ignorance, and mortals miss
Far prospects, by a level bliss,—
"If, as two colours must be viewed
In a visible image, mortals should
Need good and evil, to see good,—
"If to speak nobly, comprehends
To feel profoundly,—if the ends
Of power and suffering, Nature blends,—
"If poets on the tripod must
Writhe like the Pythian to make just
Their oracles and merit trust,—