midnight
THE VISION OF LABOUR . There 's a sound of lamentation ` mid the murmuring nocturne noises , And an undertone of sadness , as from myriad human voices , And the harmony of heaven and the music of the spheres , And the ceaseless throb of Nature , and the flux and flow of years , Are rudely punctuated with the drip of human tears -- As Time rolls on ! Yet high above the beat of surf , and Ocean 's deep resounding , And high above the tempest roar of wind on wave rebounding , There 's a burst of choral chanting , as of victors in a fight , And a battle hymn of triumph wakes the echoes of the night , And the shouts of heroes mingle with the shriekings of affright -- As Time rolls on ! There 's a gleam amid the darkness , and there 's sight amid the blindness , And the glow of hope is kindled by the breath of human kindness , And a phosphorescent glimmer gilds the spaces of the gloom , Like the sea-lights in the midnight , or the ghost-lights of the tomb , Or the livid lamps of madness in the charnel-house of doom -- As Time rolls on ! And amidst the weary wand ` rers on the mountain crags belated There 's a hush of expectation , and the sobbings are abated , For a word of hope is spoken by a prophet versed in pain , Who tells of rugged pathways down to fields of golden grain , Where the sun is ever shining , and the skies their blessings rain -- As Time rolls on ! Where the leafy chimes of gladness in the tree-tops aye are ringing , Answering to the joyous chorus which the birds are ever singing ; Where the seas of yellow plenty toss with music in the wind ; Where the purple vines are laden , and the groves with fruit are lined ; Where all grief is but a mem ` ry , and all pain is left behind -- As Time rolls on ! But it lies beyond a desert ` cross which hosts of Death are marching , And a hot sirocco wanders under skies all red and parching , Lined with skeletons of armies through the centuries fierce and acre Bones of heroes and of sages marking Time 's lapse year by year , Unmoistened by the night-dews ` mid the solitudes of fear -- As Time rolls on !