Page:The Princess and Curdie.djvu/83

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CURDIE'S MISSION.
67

sounds of that spinning-wheel! Now they were gold, now silver, now grass, now palm-trees, now ancient cities, now rubies, now mountain brooks, now peacock's feathers, now clouds, now snowdrops, and now mid-sea islands. But for the voice that sang through it all, about that I have no words to tell. It would make you weep if I were able to tell you what that was like, it was so beautiful and true and lovely. But this is something like the words of its song:—

The stars are spinning their threads,
   And the clouds are the dust that flies,
And the suns are weaving them up
   For the time when the sleepers shall rise.

The ocean in music rolls,
   And gems are turning to eyes,
And the trees are gathering souls
   For the time when the sleepers shall rise.

The weepers are learning to smile,
   And laughter to glean the sighs;
Burn and bury the care and guile,
   For the day when the sleepers shall rise.

Oh, the dews and the moths and the daisy-red,
   The larks and the glimmers and flows!
The lilies and sparrows and daily bread,
  And the something that nobody knows!

The princess stopped, her wheel stopped, and she