A dream, and yet--was it a dream?
It vanished not like vapored steam,
Nor like a bubble quickly born
And of its life as quickly shorn;
Or like most dreams mysticly spun
That when we wake forgot and gone,
The vision in this dream I saw
No time nor memory can withdraw;
Its imprint made within my soul
Will stay there in its grandeur whole;
In waking hours I'll ever see
The beautiful phenomena,
And hold in memoried endless bliss
The nectar of that divine kiss. I dreamed I stood upon a rise
With others, looking toward the skies;
The light was dim and azure blue
Was hid'n by clouds that round us drew
In semblance like a coming storm
That gradually changed its darksome form,
And shed a vista to my gaze
That held me spellbound in amaze.
Hesperus was nowhere in sight,
'Twas neither day nor was it night;
The clouds all lost their somber hue
And from them beauty did ensue
That words now fail me to describe--
Such as a soul can but imbibe. Horizon like a silent ocean,
Its clouds like billows all in motion
That winds would sway in strata high
And iridescence beautify;
Small rippling cloudlets diamond bright
Glistened in phosphorescent light:
They spread the swaying clouds apart
And found their way into the heart
Of heaven itself, that ope'd its gate,
And from its heights precipitate
A cataract of silvery sheet
That sparkled at my very feet;
The iridescent lights would flash,
And in and out its waters dash,
The silvery, velvet ribbon play,
And dance through sparkling pearly spray
Myriads of rainbows curved about,
The sublime grandeur to promote;
Each moment while I stood entranced
Its beauty changed and was enhanced;
The changes were kaleidoscopic--
All harmonious and chromatic. A transformation next took place
Within a slight indentured space;
An eddy winding playfully
Much like a tuneful roundelay,
Until from out its central part
Came forth a transcendental heart,
To which Urania might lay claim,
Or Venus, beauty of rare fame.
From out that heart a dove came forth,
As if from heaven she had her birth;
Her wings were of ethereal hue
And straight to where we stood she flew;
I saw that others she passed by
Until to me she came so nigh
That her small beak, its tapering tip
Touched and pressed my very lip.
And instantly sweet lips of love
Were formed from it, that to mine clove
In rapturous kiss that thrilled my soul
And made my joy a heavn'ly whole;
Its nectar tinged my very blood
And made of me an imaged god:
But suddenly the spell was broken
When I from sleep and dream awakened,
That ruefully my joy did sever,
On which I loved to dwell forever.