All sounds, all voices have become Thy voice,
Music and thunder and the cry of birds,
Life’s babble of her sorrows and her joys,
Cadence of human speech and murmured words,
The laughter of the sea’s enormous mirth,
The winged plane purring through the conquered air,
The auto’s trumpet-song of speed to earth,
The machine’s reluctant drone, the siren’s blare
Blowing upon the windy horn of Space
A call of distance and of mystery,
Memories of sun-bright lands and ocean ways, —
All now are wonder-tones and themes of Thee.
A secret harmony steals through the blind heart
And all grows beautiful because Thou art.
Notes on Text
24 October 1939. Three handwritten manuscripts, one of which is entitled “Sounds”.
