St. Cecilia

Poems by Joanna Baillie

AWAKE , thou lov'd strain! oh, again let me hear thee!
Breathe o'er me again thy enchantment divine:
'Tis silence,--'tis night,--no intruder is near me,
To mock what for kingdoms I would not resign.
Oh, pour o'er my heart all that soften'd emotion,
No reason can know, and no language display;
Receive my still spirit's surrender'd devotion,
And charm the dull sense of existence away.


Ye musings of tenderness, melt and deceive me!
O pity and love! for your dreams I implore;
And Thou, who art love and art pity, receive me,
Great Father of light! whom I sigh to adore.
Oh, welcome, ye forms in mild radiance descending,
That whisper responsive, and smile as I gaze!
Before the far throne, lo, the seraphs are bending;
I hear their hosannas of rapture and praise.

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