on ordinary passage

the voices that are loudest in the dark

need not be those on which we must depend

call on a hope that's ample and not stark

for which new voyage when we first embark

there's no clear meaning that we could intend

the voices which are loudest in the dark

are not the ones we first set out to mark

on whose loud booming our thoughts would perpend

call on a hope that's ample and not stark

that is the task of scholar priest and clerk

here now to master each unworldly trend

the voices that are loudest in the dark

will not be those who cannot just remark

on ordinary passage they must bend

call on a hope that's ample and not stark

allow the motion to ignite a spark

of true humanity before the end

the voices that are loudest in the dark

call on a hope that's ample and not stark