IV.—A LOST CHORD.
Seated one day at the Organ1
I was weary, and ill at ease,2
And my fingers wandered idly3
Over the noisy keys.4
I do not know what I was playing,5
Or what I was dreaming then,6
But I struck one chord of music,7
Like the sound of a great Amen.8
It flooded the crimson twilight9
Like the close of an Angel’s Psalm,10
And it lay on my fevered spirit11
With a touch of infinite calm.12
It quieted pain and sorrow13
Like love overcoming strife ;14
It seemed the harmonious echo15
From our discordant life.16
It linked all perplexèd meanings17
Into one perfect peace,18
And trembled away into silence,19
As if it were loth to cease.20
I have sought, and I seek it vainly,21
That one lost chord divine,22
That came from the soul of the Organ23
And entered into mine.24
It may be that Death’s bright Angel25
Will speak in that chord again—26
It may be that only in Heaven,27
I shall hear that grand Amen.28