 | Poems, original and translated |  |
A DARK MORNING.
Can this be morn? I heard the cock
Cry, long ago, the morning hour;
And through the darkness now the clock
Speaks plainly from the neighboring tower.
Cry, long ago, the morning hour;
And through the darkness now the clock
Speaks plainly from the neighboring tower.
And yet the mantling autumn shower,
So cold and thick, prolongs the night;
Nor star, nor moon, nor sun hath power
To show the faintest gleam of light.
So cold and thick, prolongs the night;
Nor star, nor moon, nor sun hath power
To show the faintest gleam of light.
135
Where'er I turn my straining sight,
I see no living, moving form,
Save black-winged clouds in heavy flight,
And trees that tremble in the storm.
I see no living, moving form,
Save black-winged clouds in heavy flight,
And trees that tremble in the storm.
From eastern chambers of the deep
No day-spring breaks to greet my eyes;
But sea-born mists, wild gathering, sweep,
Confounding earth and seas and skies.
No day-spring breaks to greet my eyes;
But sea-born mists, wild gathering, sweep,
Confounding earth and seas and skies.
Their endless legions rise and rise,
The storm-wind's trumpet-blast obey,—
The scattered crown of Autumn flies
Before that murky, grim array.
The storm-wind's trumpet-blast obey,—
The scattered crown of Autumn flies
Before that murky, grim array.
Where is the world that, yesterday,
With tranquil beauty tranced my sight,
As, bosomed in the skies, it lay
A paradise of love and light?
With tranquil beauty tranced my sight,
As, bosomed in the skies, it lay
A paradise of love and light?
Where are the skies that met my gaze,
And seemed to kiss the earth's fair face,
While over it the summer haze
Hung health and beauty, glow and grace?
And seemed to kiss the earth's fair face,
While over it the summer haze
Hung health and beauty, glow and grace?
Wait a few hours, and thou shalt know,
And see “with unbeclouded eye,”
Though night and grief dwell here below,
Sunshine and gladness reign on high.
And see “with unbeclouded eye,”
Though night and grief dwell here below,
Sunshine and gladness reign on high.
136
Then shall these storms of earth, that seem
To swallow heaven, have passed away,
Like shadows of a troubled dream,
When morning mists are lost in day.
To swallow heaven, have passed away,
Like shadows of a troubled dream,
When morning mists are lost in day.
| Poems, original and translated | |