Tell Me, Ye Winged Winds by Charles Mackay. Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. 1895. A Victorian Anthology, 1837-1895

Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). A Victorian Anthology, 1837–1895. 1895.

Tell Me, Ye Winged Winds

Charles Mackay (1814–89)


TELL me, ye winged winds,
That round my pathway roar,
Do ye not know some spot
Where mortals weep no more?
Some lone and pleasant dell,	5
Some valley in the west,
Where, free from toil and pain,
The weary soul may rest?
The loud wind dwindled to a whisper low,
And sigh’d for pity as it answer’d, “No.”	10

Tell me, thou mighty deep,
Whose billows round me play,
Knowst thou some favor’d spot,
Some island far away,
Where weary man may find	15
The bliss for which he sighs,
Where sorrow never lives,
And friendship never dies?
The loud waves, rolling in perpetual flow,
Stopp’d for a while, and sigh’d to answer, “No.”	20

And thou, serenest moon,
That, with such lovely face,
Dost look upon the earth
Asleep in night’s embrace;
Tell me, in all thy round	25
Hast thou not seen some spot
Where miserable man
May find a happier lot?
Behind a cloud the moon withdrew in woe,
And a voice, sweet but sad, responded, “No.”	30

Tell me, my secret soul,
Oh! tell me, Hope and Faith,
Is there no resting-place
From sorrow, sin, and death?
Is there no happy spot	35
Where mortals may be blest,
Where grief may find a balm,
And weariness a rest?
Faith, Hope, and Love, best boons to mortals given,
Wav’d their bright wings, and whisper’d, “Yes, in heaven.”	40