 | Poems and Sonnets |  |
274
CHANGES.
It does not take very long
To change the colour of things,
A cloud that a storm-blast brings
Has blue behind, loud sings
The bird who before was strong
To scatter the wet from his wings;
To change the colour of things,
A cloud that a storm-blast brings
Has blue behind, loud sings
The bird who before was strong
To scatter the wet from his wings;
A thunderous afternoon
Is oftentimes light as it grows
Towards eventide, Alpine snows
Gleam rosy on heights and blows
Blue gentian, under the moon
The mad sea softly flows;
Is oftentimes light as it grows
Towards eventide, Alpine snows
Gleam rosy on heights and blows
Blue gentian, under the moon
The mad sea softly flows;
275
Gleams from behind the clouds
At even, suddenly red,
The sun's great glorious head,
And light of his presence is shed,
Fast breaking the dun grey shrouds,
Across the waves that were dead;
At even, suddenly red,
The sun's great glorious head,
And light of his presence is shed,
Fast breaking the dun grey shrouds,
Across the waves that were dead;
Suddenly green and blue
Flecked with breakers of white
Gleams the ocean, a sight
To madden a man with delight
As the wail of the wind whistles through
His brain, and wakes in him might;
Flecked with breakers of white
Gleams the ocean, a sight
To madden a man with delight
As the wail of the wind whistles through
His brain, and wakes in him might;
Falls upon sunburnt sails
A smile of the sun, and they shine,
Shine ruddy, the whole long line
Of fishing boats, mists of the Rhine
Gathered high when the sunlight fails
Scatter, ruins and rocks are fine;
A smile of the sun, and they shine,
Shine ruddy, the whole long line
Of fishing boats, mists of the Rhine
Gathered high when the sunlight fails
Scatter, ruins and rocks are fine;
276
Broad blue breadths of the sea
Change to a sullen grey,
For the light is taken away,
The clear white light of the day,
And the distances darken and flee
Far further, and thickens the spray;
Change to a sullen grey,
For the light is taken away,
The clear white light of the day,
And the distances darken and flee
Far further, and thickens the spray;
But rises the sun in the morn,
And the shoals and the porpoises play,
And the grey mists quicken away,
And the rose-streaks redden and stray
In the east, and Beauty is born,
And rises a glad new day.
And the shoals and the porpoises play,
And the grey mists quicken away,
And the rose-streaks redden and stray
In the east, and Beauty is born,
And rises a glad new day.
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