University of Virginia Library


302

THE CITY OF THE CLOUDS.

I spent a summer afternoon,
In the city of the clouds;
I had laid dead hopes away,
Quiet and silent in their shrouds;
When I heard the harpers play,
In the city of the clouds.
Golden skies of endless June
Roofed the city of the clouds;
Underneath the banquet hall,
Lay my dead hopes in their shrouds,
Silent and forgot by all,
In the city of the clouds.
How they pressed me by the hand,
In the city of the clouds;
How they kissed my lip and brow,
As those used who sleep in shrouds,
How they pledged me with a vow,
In this city of the clouds.

303

Suddenly the air grew black,
Round the city of the clouds.
As I looked each guest grew pale
As the dead who lay in shrouds.
Lightning-pierced, it fell to mist,
All my city of the clouds.