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| WHAT dost thou see, lone watcher on the tower, | |
| Is the day breaking? Comes the wished-for hour? | |
| Tell us the signs, and stretch abroad thy hand, | |
| If the bright morning dawns upon the land. | |
| |
| “The stars are clear above me; scarcely one | 5 |
| Has dimmed its rays in reverence to the sun; | |
| But I yet see on the horizon’s verge | |
| Some fair, faint streaks, as if the light would surge.” | |
| |
| Look forth again, O watcher on the tower,— | |
| The people wake and languish for the hour; | 10 |
| Long have they dwelt in darkness, and they pine | |
| For the full daylight that they know must shine. | |
| |
| “I see not well,—the moon is cloudy still,— | |
| There is a radiance on the distant hill; | |
| Even as I watch the glory seems to grow; | 15 |
| But the stars blink, and the night breezes blow.” | |
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| And is that all, O watcher on the tower? | |
| Look forth again; it must be near the hour; | |
| Dost thou not see the snowy mountain copes, | |
| And the green woods beneath them on the slopes? | 20 |
| |
| “A mist envelops them; I cannot trace | |
| Their outline; but the day comes on apace: | |
| The clouds roll up in gold and amber flakes, | |
| And all the stars grow dim; the morning breaks.” | |
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| We thank thee, lonely watcher on the tower: | 25 |
| But look again, and tell us, hour by hour, | |
| All thou beholdest: many of us die | |
| Ere the day comes; oh, give them a reply! | |
| |
| “I see the hill-tops now, and chanticleer | |
| Crows his prophetic carol on mine ear; | 30 |
| I see the distant woods and fields of corn, | |
| And ocean gleaming in the light of morn.” | |
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| Again, again, O watcher on the tower! | |
| We thirst for daylight, and we bide the hour, | |
| Patient, but longing. Tell us, shall it be | 35 |
| A bright, calm, glorious daylight for the free? | |
| |
| “I hope, but cannot tell; I hear a song, | |
| Vivid as day itself, and clear and strong, | |
| As of a lark—young prophet of the noon— | |
| Pouring in sunlight his seraphic tune.” | 40 |
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| What doth he say, O watcher on the tower? | |
| Is he a prophet? does the dawning hour | |
| Inspire his music? Is his chant sublime, | |
| Filled with the glories of the future time? | |
| |
| “He prophesies,—his heart is full; his lay | 45 |
| Tells of the brightness of a peaceful day; | |
| A day not cloudless, nor devoid of storm, | |
| But sunny for the most, and clear and warm.” | |
| |
| We thank thee, watcher on the lonely tower, | |
| For all thou tellest. Sings he of an hour | 50 |
| When error shall decay, and truth grow strong, | |
| And light shall rule supreme and conquer wrong? | |
| |
| “He sings of brotherhood and joy and peace, | |
| Of days when jealousies and hate shall cease; | |
| When war shall cease, and man’s progressive mind | 55 |
| Soar as unfettered as its God designed.” | |
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| Well done, thou watcher on the lonely tower! | |
| Is the day breaking? Dawns the happy hour? | |
| We pine to see it; tell us yet again | |
| If the broad daylight breaks upon the plain? | 60 |
| |
| “It breaks! it comes! the misty shadows fly: | |
| A rosy radiance gleams upon the sky; | |
| The mountain-tops reflect it calm and clear, | |
| The plain is yet in shade, but day is near.” | |
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