O God who givest songs too sweet to sing,

Have mercy on thy servant’s feeble tongue,

In sacrificial silence sorrowing.

And grant that songs unsung,

Accepted at thy mercy-seat may bring

New light into the darkness of sad eyes,

New tenderness to stay the stream of tears,

New rainbows from the sunshine of surprise,

To guide men down the years,

Until they cross the last long bridge of sighs.

G.A. Studdert Kennedy (1883-1929), The Unutterable Beauty.