And the cherubs waved the fiery sword

At Eden’s gate ’gainst its banished lord—

Since the brow of the guilty Earth was bent

’Neath the sentence of sin’s dread punishment,

A spell of woe on thy heart has lain,

Sorrow has saddened thy dulcet strain;

And the grief of the exile that pines alone

Is heard in the breathing of every tone.

Still pour thy song; and still mount higher

With the day-god. Bird of the plumy lyre!