 | The collected poems of William Ellery Channing the younger, 1817-1901 |  |
863
LIFE.
It is a gay and glittering cloud,
Born in the early light of day,
It lies upon the gentle hills,
Rosy, and sweet, and far away.
Born in the early light of day,
It lies upon the gentle hills,
Rosy, and sweet, and far away.
It burns again when noon is high;
Like molten gold 't is clothed in light,
'T is beautiful and glad as love,—
A joyous, soul-entrancing sight.
Like molten gold 't is clothed in light,
'T is beautiful and glad as love,—
A joyous, soul-entrancing sight.
But now 't is fading in the west,
On the flowering heaven a withered leaf,
As faint as shadow on the grass
Thrown by a gleam of moonshine brief.
On the flowering heaven a withered leaf,
As faint as shadow on the grass
Thrown by a gleam of moonshine brief.
So life is born, grows up, and dies,
As cloud upon the world of light;
It comes in joy, and moves in love,
Then,—gently fades away in night.
As cloud upon the world of light;
It comes in joy, and moves in love,
Then,—gently fades away in night.
| The collected poems of William Ellery Channing the younger, 1817-1901 | |