And gazed, till over all on high
The sun held undisputed sway,
And chased from heaven all gloom away;
While the few clouds that o'er it past
No beam obscured, no shadow cast.
But when the day was almost done,
The clouds were beautiful indeed,
When from his daily duty freed,
Still in his glorious strength, the sun
Shone forth upon the twilight skies,
And graced them with his myriad dyes.
I saw the clouds that onward drew,
From out the deep and distant blue,
Become all beautiful and bright,
As if to show the coming night
How great the radiance and the power
E'en of the sun's departing hour.
They took all shapes, as Fancy wrought
Her web and mingled thought with thought.
Some like familiar forms-the themes
Of early loves that fade to dreams;
Some were of rainbow shapes and hues;
Some glistening, like our earth, with dews;
Some were like forests seen afar;
Some like the restless wandering star;
While some appear'd like coral caves,
Half hidden by the ocean's waves,
All cover'd with their snow-white spray;
Others there were, which seem'd to be
Fair islands in a dark blue sea,
Which human eyes at eve behold;
But only then-unseen by day
Their shores and mountains all of gold.
They vanish'd as the night came on—
Those varied hues and forms were gone:
But in their stead, Reflection woke
To teach her lesson-thus she spoke :
"Those very clouds, so bright, so gay,
So fair-are vapours which the earth
Flung, as diseasèd parts, away—
Foul mists which owe their second birth
To Him who keeps his throne on high,
To bless the earth and gild the sky.
Yes! 'tis the sun whose influence brings
A change to these degraded things,
That gives them lovely forms, and then
Deprives them of their baneful powers,
And sends to mother Earth again,
In gentle dews and cheering showers,
What was her burden and her ban.
Man feels a change as great-when man
Feels that immortal spark within
Whose might no human tongue can tell,
Which shines to lighten and dispel
The darkness and the weight of sin;
When He, who form'd Creation's whole,
To school and guide the human soul
Bids, o'er the intellectual skies,
The Sun of Righteousness arise,
And things of heaven and earth assume
Their proper shade of light or gloom."
Now, let the contemplative mind
Fill up the blank I leave behind;
And see through all Creation's plan
Some useful lesson taught to man;
Compare the changes wrought within,
And those without-by nature wrought--
Compare the man who lives in sin,
And him by virtue led and taught:
See how the Christian's shining light
Makes all that once was darkness, bright;
And see how like the clouds on high,
His every feeling every thought,
Adorn and bless the mental sky,
And then his glories never die!
NIGHT is the time for rest!
How sweet, when labours close,
To gather round an aching breast
The curtain of repose!
Stretch the tired limbs, and lay the head
Upon our own delightful bed.
Night is the time for dreams;
The gay romance of life,
When truth that is, and truth that seems,
Blend in fantastic strife;
Ah! visions less beguiling far
Than waking dreams by daylight are!
Night is the time for toil;
To plough the classic field,
Intent to find the buried spoil
Its wealthy furrows yield;
Till all is ours that sages taught,
That poets sang, or heroes wrought.
Night is the time to weep;
To wet with unseen tears
Those graves of memory, where sleep
The joys of other years,
Hopes that were angels in their birth,
But perish'd young, like things of earth.
Night is the time to watch
On ocean's dark expanse : To hail the Pleiades, or catch
The full moon's earliest glance, That brings into the home-sick mind All we have loved and left behind.
Night is the time for Care;
Brooding on hours mis-spent,
To see the spectre of Despair
Come to our lonely tent;
Like Brutus 'midst his slumbering host,
Startled by Cæsar's stalwart ghost.
Night is the time to muse;
Then from the eye the soul
Takes flight, and with expanding views,
Beyond the starry pole
Descries, athwart the abyss of night
The dawn of uncreated light.
Night is the time to pray;
Our Saviour oft withdrew To desert mountains far away;
So will his followers do
Steal from the throng to haunts untrod,
And hold communion there with God.
Night is the time for death;
When all around is peace,
Calmly to yield the weary breath—-
From sin and suffering cease,
Think of heaven's bliss, and give the sign
To parting friends-such death be mine!
|