Blue against the bluer heavens
Stood the mountain, calm and still,
Two white Angels, bending earthward,
Leant upon the hill.
Listening leant those silent Angels,
And I longed to hear
What sweet strain of earlthy music
Thus could charm their ear.
I heard the sound of many trumpets
In a warlike march draw nigh;
Solemnly a mighty army
Passed in order by.
But the clang had ceased; the echoes
Soon had faded from the hill;
While the Angels, calm and earnest
Leant and listened still.
Then I heard a fainter clamor,
Forge and wheel were clashing near,
And the Reapers in the meadow
Singing loud and clear.
When the sunset came in glory,
And the toil of day was o'er,
Still the Angels leant in silence,
Listening as before.
Then as daylight slowly vanished,
And the evening mists grew dim,
Solemnly from distant voices
Rose a vesper hymn.
Adelaide A. Procter, 1881
