Classic Poem

Thou art an old old spirit, — thou dost belong
To some far different place and other days;
Thou heardest perhaps in Paradise the praise
I give thee, smiling at my love-taught song.
Upon the ancient winds thou hast been strong;
Thou hast sailed wide upon the ocean-ways;
In far forgotten epochs just such lays
Of passion at my eager lips did throng.

Upon this earth again thou hast been born,
But of thine earthly parents thou art not :
Destined for some diviner grander lot
Thou art; from some soul-sphere thou hast been torn;
Thy spirit, incarnate in thy baby-cot,
Left sister-angels for thy loss to mourn.