Ah, I have heard a meadow-lark
Sing o’er the growing corn
In notes of passion and desire,
At early primrose morn―
So full and rich and sweet,
My heart with rapture beat,
And for remembered years
Up sprang the tears. . . .
And here―and now―
So singest thou!
And I have heard―and seen―the notes
Of a brief summer rain
Burst into sudden, lyric gold
Upon my window-pane―
When sunset’s lucent flame
For one sweet instant came―
Born of the rain’s desire
And the sunset’s fire. . . .
And here―and now―
So singest thou!
I dreamed I heard an angel sing
With rapt and lifted eyes;
With marvel in his voice and look
And in his heart surprise
That the angels leaned from sleep
To hear and bow and weep,
Thinking of ones loved so
On earth below. . . .
And here―and now―
So singest thou!
“The Way Thou Singest” as it appears in Higginson’s When the Birds Go North Again (1898).