BARDS¹ of Passion and of Mirth

    Ye have left your souls on earth！

    Have ye souls in heaven too

    Doubled-lived in regions new？

    Yes and those of heaven commune

    With the spheres of sun and moon；

    With the noise of fountains wondrous²

    And the parle of voices thund'rous；

    With the whisper of heaven's trees

    And one another in soft ease

    Seated on Elysian lawns

    Browsed³ by none but Dian's fawns⁴；

    Underneath⁵ large blue-bells tented

    Where the daisies are rose-scented

    And the rose herself has got

    Perfume which on earth is not；

    Where the nightingale doth sing

    Not a senseless trancèd thing

    But divine melodious⁶ truth；

    Philosophic⁷ numbers smooth；

    Tales and golden histories

    Of heaven and its mysteries.

    Thus ye live on high and then

    On the earth ye live again；

    And the souls ye left behind you

    Teach us here the way to find you

    Where your other souls are joying

    Never slumber'd never cloying⁸.

    Here your earth-born souls still speak

    To mortals of their little week；

    Of their sorrows and delights；

    Of their passions and their spites；

    Of their glory and their shame；

    What doth strengthen and what maim⁹.

    Thus ye teach us every day

    Wisdom though fled far away.

    Bards of Passion and of Mirth

    Ye have left your souls on earth！

    Ye have souls in heaven too

    Double-lived in regions new！

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