Poems (Rice)/A Dream

by Maria Theresa Rice

For works with similar titles, see A Dream.

A DREAM.

I DREAMED an angel band stood round my bed,
And from a gold-bound book they sweetly read,—
"What if some cavern in the womb of earth,
Where mortal man ne'er entered since his birth,
Should ope its portals to your enraptured sight,
And fill your soul with its effulgent light,
And waves of music, whose swell sublime
Burst on your ear its echoes all divine;
And blooming plants, whose fragrance fill the air,
Were with the laurel twined by spirits there,
To deck the brows of every child of earth,
Who ventured to explore its mines of worth;
If every stone that gemmed the vault above,
Should be a key to move your hearts to love—
Would not this pay you for all your toil
In search of riches o'er the midnight oil,
To find a cave like this so richly stored
With music, gems, sweet flowers, and light adored?

  "Then come, thou sorrowing child of earth,
   Prepare for the Saviour's fold,
  And read this book we brought for thee,
   It is written in letters of gold.

  "To this gorgeous cave in the earth it will guide,
   O, haste thee, its riches to see;
  Your Father and Saviour there sit side by side,
   Their arms are extended to thee."