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Thomas Cole's poetry

the collected poems of America's foremost painter of the Hudson River School reflecting his feelings for nature and the romantic spirit of the Nineteenth Century

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74

[26. I sigh not for a stormless clime]

I sigh not for a stormless clime,
Where drowsy quiet ever dwells,
Where purling waters changeless clime
Through soft and green unwinter'd dells—
For storms bring beauty in their train;
The hills that roar'd beneath the blast
The woods that welter'd in the rain
Rejoice whene'er the tempest's past.
Their faces lifting to the sky
With fresher brightness, richer hue;
As though the blast had brought them joy,
Darkness and rain dropp'd gladness too—
So storms of ill when pass'd away
Leave in our souls serene delight;
The blackness of the stormy day,
Doth make the welcome calm more bright—
January 25, 1835