Songs of an Immortal Ecstasy

7/6/03

In the small loft that held the Russian choir

Unaccompanied by instruments we sang

Harmonies that made the heart suspire

And bodies vibrate as the great bells rang.

It was here in this orthodox retreat

Unknowing I had first Darshan of thy face,

Though ignorant knelt before her feet,

The blessed virgin Mary full of grace.

I knew not then that thou and she are one,

What force or fate drew me to this room

Of God, the soul's discovery begun

Amid the solemn icons and the gloom

Of sin and penitence and fear of hell

And centuries of sorrow and despair.

But Heaven's music cast on me its spell,

My being of its inner source aware

And destiny and death, and hope that lives

Unconquered by the blows of time and fate,

In a tenement of clay aspires and strives

For those diviner chords to recreate

And marry with the music of the spheres

These earthly notes so filled with poignancy,

By God-delight replace our human tears

With songs of an immortal ecstasy.