The Chanting Cherubs Poem by Richard Henry Dana

A Group by Greenough


WHENCE come ye, Cherubs? from the moon?
Or from a shining star?
Ye sure are sent, a blessed boon,
From kinder worlds afar;
For, while I look, my heart is all delight:
Earth has no creatures half so pure and bright.

From moon nor star we hither flew;
The moon doth wane away,—
The stars they pale at morning dew;
We ’re children of the day;
Nor change, nor night, was ever ours to bear;
Eternal light, and love, and joy, we share.

Then, sons of light, from Heaven above
Some blessed news ye bring.
Come ye to chant eternal love
And tell how angels sing,
And in your breathing, conscious forms to show
How purer forms above live, breathe, and glow?

Our parent is a human mind;
His winged thoughts are we;
To sun nor stars are we confined:
We pierce the deepest sea.
Moved by a brother’s call, our Father bade
Us light on earth, and here our flight is stayed.