Echo-Song

In thy cavern-hall,
Echo! art thou sleeping?
By the fountain’s fall
Dreamy silence keeping?
Yet one soft note borne
From the shepherd’s horn,
Wakes thee, Echo! into music leaping!
--Strange, sweet Echo! into music leaping.

Then the woods rejoice,
Then glad sounds are swelling
From each sister-voice
Round thy rocky dwelling;
And their sweetness fills
All the hollow hills,
With a thousand notes, of one life telling!
--Softly mingled notes, of one life telling.

Echo! in my heart
Thus deep thoughts are lying,
Silent and apart,
Buried, yet undying;
Till some gentle tone
Wakening haply one,
Calls a thousand forth, like thee replying!
--Strange, sweet Echo! even like thee replying.