A little while ago I caught,
In cadence pure and clear,
A waft of faintest music, wrought
Upon my inner ear.
A part of some elusive theme
Whose sweetly solemn air
My soul had harkened in a dream,
I know not when nor where.
I only know my heart-strings stirred
With strange, forgotten pain,
That crept upon me as I heard
That unremembered strain.
A sense of loneliness untold,
So boundless, deep, unknown,
I blindly reached my hands to hold
Your palms within my own!