 | Poems |  |
65
REPENTANCE.
A cloud upon the day is lying,
A cloud of care, a cloud of sorrow,
That will not speed away for sighing,
That will not lift upon the Morrow.
A cloud of care, a cloud of sorrow,
That will not speed away for sighing,
That will not lift upon the Morrow.
And yet it is not gloom I carry,
To shade a world else framed in lightness,
It is not sorrow that doth tarry,
To veil the joyous sky of brightness.
To shade a world else framed in lightness,
It is not sorrow that doth tarry,
To veil the joyous sky of brightness.
Then tell me what it is, thou Nature
That of all Earth art queen supremest,
Give to my grief distinctest feature,
Thou, who art ever to me nearest.
That of all Earth art queen supremest,
Give to my grief distinctest feature,
Thou, who art ever to me nearest.
66
Because my lot has no distinction,
And unregarded I am standing,
A pilgrim wan without dominion,
A ship-wrecked Mariner just landing.
And unregarded I am standing,
A pilgrim wan without dominion,
A ship-wrecked Mariner just landing.
Resolve for me, ye prudent Sages,
Why I am tasked without a reason,
Or penetrate the lapse of ages,
And show where is my Summer season.
Why I am tasked without a reason,
Or penetrate the lapse of ages,
And show where is my Summer season.
For let the sky be blue above me,
Or softest breezes lift the forest,
I still uncertain, wander to thee,
Thou who the lot of Man deplorest.
Or softest breezes lift the forest,
I still uncertain, wander to thee,
Thou who the lot of Man deplorest.
Nor will I strive for Fortune's gilding,
But still the Disappointment follow,
Seek steadily the pasture's wilding,
Nor grasp a satisfaction hollow.
But still the Disappointment follow,
Seek steadily the pasture's wilding,
Nor grasp a satisfaction hollow.
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