Hymn (For Boys' Voices)
All the things magicians do
Could be done by me and you
Freely, if we only knew.
Human children every day
Could play at games the faeries play
If they were but shown the way.
Every man a God would be
Laughing through eternity
If as God’s his eyes could see.
All the wizardries of God—
Slaying matter with a nod,
Charming spirits with his rod,
With the singing of his voice
Making lonely lands rejoice,
Leaving us no will nor choice,
Drawing headlong me and you
As the piping Orpheus drew
Man and beast the mountains through,
By the sweetness of his horn
Calling us from lands forlorn
Nearer to the widening morn—
All that loveliness of power
Could be man’s peculiar dower,
Even mine, this very hour;
We should reach the Hidden Land
And grow immortal out of hand,
If we could but understand!
We could revel day and night
In all power and all delight
If we learn to think aright.
