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Would glisten in the upward look of pray’r;

And they would lift the heavy loads of care

From souls oppressed, and banish carking fear,

And grief and black remorse which life destroy.

And thus they day and night gripped human souls

With hope and cheer mid life’s divers pursuits;

But on the Sabbath and the sacred days,

When man is called to think of better ways,

They seemed so jubliant with heavenly truths,

That none did doubt that God His children calls.

They had a gladness which at sundry times

Was almost riotous, like children’s play,

And seemed to send out peals of laughter sweet,

When they a merry bridal train did greet,

As to the church it gaily made its way,

Transported with the rapture of the chimes.

But when the dead were carried to their rest,

Its dirges were of all most wonderful,

A depth of sadness—such as none can tell—

A sadness which the gayest did compel

To see a shadow of the ghastly skull,

And yet to feel that even the grave is blest.

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In all these cadences Sordino found