"Soft Music Is Falling" (Feb 1852)
Words and Music
by George Frederick Root, 1820-1895

[Source: pages 181-182 from "The Academy Vocalist"]

1. Soft music is falling
All sad on the ear,
While dark clouds of sorrow
Are hovering near;
So mournful its numbers,
So dirgelike its strain,
Each heart is lamenting
Its coming again.
’Tis the sad hour of parting,
It whispers of fears,
Of gentle hearts bowing
In sorrow and tears.

2. Oh! voice of a spirit,
What mystical power
Hath made thy strange music
The sport of Time’s hour?
Today it reposeth
In holiest rest;
Tomorrow stern sorrow
Is filling each breast.
Ah! the sad hour of parting
Now murmurs the song,
While echo responds us,
The loved ones have gone.

3. That same strain is cheering,
And sweet is the lay,
While the sad voice of parting
Is fading away.
’Tis the voice of a spirit
From Heaven’s bright shore,
Where sighings and partings
For aye shall be o’er.
’Tis the glad hour of meeting,
And hope fills each heart,
While angels are chanting—
No more shall we part.