Now

Sometimes a single hour      Rings thro' a long life-time,     As from a temple tower      There often falls a chime     From blessed bells, that seems     To fold in Heaven's dreams      Our spirits round a shrine;      Hath such an hour been thine?     Sometimes -- who knoweth why?      One minute holds a power      That shadows every hour,     Dialed in life's sky.      A cloud that is a speck     When seen from far away      May be a storm, and wreck     The joys of every day.     Sometimes -- it seems not much,      'Tis scarcely felt at all --     Grace gives a gentle touch      To hearts for once and all,     Which in the spirit's strife      May all unnoticed be.     And yet it rules a life;      Hath this e'er come to thee?     Sometimes one little word,      Whispered sweet and fleet,     That scarcely can be heard,      Our ears will sudden meet.     And all life's hours along      That whisper may vibrate,     And, like a wizard's song,      Decide our ev'ry fate.     Sometimes a sudden look,      That falleth from some face,     Will steal into each nook      Of life, and leave its trace;     To haunt us to the last,      And sway our ev'ry will     Thro' all the days to be,      For goodness or for ill;     Hath this e'er come to thee?     Sometimes one minute folds      The hearts of all the years,     Just like the heart that holds      The Infinite in tears;     There be such thing as this --      Who knoweth why, or how?     A life of woe or bliss      Hangs on some little Now.