I heard a whisper soft and low,
Borne on the winds, that blow and blow,
That made me listen then;
For though the voice was changed in all,
Each weighted word seemed me to call
To some far-off Eden.

And then the silence reigned again;
Awful it was and full of pain,
For from the dead it came!
The message of an angel dove
That once had been my fondest love—
Unspoken be her name!

Whence come these thoughts that will not die
Of those who dwell beyond the sky?
These whispers in the night,
That bid us come from earth away—
Canst say, grim Doubt, from whence come they?
Canst say, and say aright?