As when a pearl is melted in its shell,

And sunken in the sea!

I sunk, and sunk beneath thy song, but still

I thirsted after more, the more I sank;

A flower that drooped with all the dew it drank,

But still upheld its cup for Heaven to fill;

My inmost soul was drunk with melody,

Which thou didst pour around,

To crown the feast of sound,

And lift to every lip, but chief to me,