I’ve Heard an Organ Talk, Sometimes
poem 183
I’ve Heard an Organ Talk, Sometimes - meaning Summary
Transformation in a Church Aisle
The speaker describes hearing an organ in a cathedral and experiencing a sudden, ineffable change. Though she understands no explicit message from the music, it holds her breath and produces a subtle transformation: she leaves feeling altered, a "more Berdardine Girl," without knowing what happened. The poem registers the mysterious, nonverbal power of sacred sound to provoke inward alteration and lingering wonder rather than a clear doctrinal insight.
Read Complete AnalysesI’ve heard an Organ talk, sometimes In a Cathedral Aisle, And understood no word it said Yet held my breath, the while And risen up and gone away, A more Berdardine Girl Yet know not what was done to me In that old Chapel Aisle.
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