 | Lines in Pleasant Places |  |
229
HERE AND YONDER.
Ah, cold and dreary is the night!
We hear without the chilling gale
Bend the lithe tree-tops in its flight,
While the impetuous rains assail,
Dashing against the window pane,
As if with bitter madness fraught,
But, failing entrance, sob in vain
At finding all their efforts come to nought.
We hear without the chilling gale
Bend the lithe tree-tops in its flight,
While the impetuous rains assail,
Dashing against the window pane,
As if with bitter madness fraught,
But, failing entrance, sob in vain
At finding all their efforts come to nought.
We closer draw around the grate,
And shudder as the sound we hear,
And think how sad must be the fate
Of those who dare a night so drear!
The fire's warm beams small cheer impart,
While listening to the stormy din,
That wakes sad feelings in the heart,
From which sweet converse fails our thought to win.
And shudder as the sound we hear,
And think how sad must be the fate
Of those who dare a night so drear!
The fire's warm beams small cheer impart,
While listening to the stormy din,
That wakes sad feelings in the heart,
From which sweet converse fails our thought to win.
Around the chimney-top the wind
Roars its defiance, hurrying by,
As though it dare not lag behind,
Charged with its message from the sky;
And down the vale it wildly roars,
Filling the timid with affright,
While still the rain in torrents pours,
And darkness rules the province of the night.
Roars its defiance, hurrying by,
230
Charged with its message from the sky;
And down the vale it wildly roars,
Filling the timid with affright,
While still the rain in torrents pours,
And darkness rules the province of the night.
We gaze out through the murky gloom,
And there upon the distant sky
The city lights the arch illume,
Mirrored upon the clouds on high;
Beyond and o'er the tumult dire
And darkness that the scene invest,
Gloweth that cheerful constant fire
In which are peace and safety manifest.
And there upon the distant sky
The city lights the arch illume,
Mirrored upon the clouds on high;
Beyond and o'er the tumult dire
And darkness that the scene invest,
Gloweth that cheerful constant fire
In which are peace and safety manifest.
Thus, as we stand amid life's storms,
With sin and sorrow girt about,
While scarce a ray our spirit warms,
And left to darkness and to doubt,—
In our despair we upward gaze,
And there, above all doubts and damps,
We catch the glory of the blaze
From the Eternal City's golden lamps.
With sin and sorrow girt about,
While scarce a ray our spirit warms,
And left to darkness and to doubt,—
In our despair we upward gaze,
And there, above all doubts and damps,
We catch the glory of the blaze
From the Eternal City's golden lamps.
| Lines in Pleasant Places | |