Author: Abram Joseph Ryan

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    At the golden gates of the visions
     I knelt me adown one day;
    But sudden my prayer was a silence,
     For I heard from the "Far away"
    The murmur of many voices
     And a silvery censer's sway.

    I bowed in awe, and I listened --
     The deeps of my soul were stirred,
    But deepest of all was the meaning
     Of the far-off music I heard,
    And yet it was stiller than silence,
     Its notes were the "Dream of a Word".

    A word that is whispered in heaven,
     But cannot be heard below;
    It lives on the lips of the angels
     Where'er their pure wings glow;
    Yet only the "Dream of its Echo"
     Ever reaches this valley of woe.

    But I know the word and its meaning;
     I reached to its height that day,
    When prayer sank into a silence
     And my heart was so far away;
    But I may not murmur the music,
     Nor the word may my lips yet say.

    But some day far in the future,
     And up from the dust of the dead,
    And out of my lips when speechless
     The mystical word shall be said,
    'Twill come to thee, still as a spirit,
     When the soul of the bard has fled.

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Type of Poem: Lyric Poem

Date Written:

Date Published:

Language: English

Keywords: Public Domain

Source: Public Domain Collection

Publisher:

Rights/Permissions: Public Domain

Comments/Notes: The poem is a profound exploration of spiritual longing, the mystical, and the paradoxical nature of silence and sound. The speaker presents a pilgrimage to the 'golden gates of visions,' evoking a sense of sacred quest, a yearning for divine knowledge, and a communion with the celestial. The tone is reverential and introspective, steeped in metaphysical contemplation.

The poem's structure is neatly organized into five six-line stanzas, maintaining a consistent rhythm and rhyme scheme that adds a musical quality, perhaps reflecting the 'far-off music' that the speaker hears. The use of paradox, such as 'stiller than silence,' and the recurring motif of the 'Dream of a Word' and its echo, creates a sense of enigma and ineffability, underlining the theme of divine mystery. The speaker's claim to know the word and its meaning, but their inability to express it, underscores the motif of ineffable spiritual experience. The final stanza, with its promise of future revelation, imparts a sense of spiritual transcendence and hope, leaving the reader with a lingering sense of awe and anticipation.