I stood on the hills in the morning light,
And watched the dawn of a new-born day;
I saw how the sunbeams on dancing wings
Chased dusky shadows of night away,
And thought how good deeds from a heart of love
Could drive away the impure, untrue;
I said as I turned from the glory heights,
Oh, what today wilt Thou have me do?
Then into my heart flew a song of love,
An echo falling from angel choirs;
Not mine was the song, but the dear Lord said,
A spark can kindle earth's altar fires;
A strain that may drop from Mind's harmony,
A joy-strung harp, on its thrilling strings
May catch and repeat with the power of Truth
The life-giving song that an angel sings.
In gladness I sang all the livelong day
The song that echoed within my heart,
And when on the hilltops again I stood
To watch the westering day depart,
The valley uplifted the song to me
From one who had waked from his mortal dream,
To know the glad truth and to see the light
That through the mists of earth's errors gleam.
