University of Virginia Library


8

LIFE'S GLASS.

Like unto echoed music in a dream,
A slowly sailing cloud in summer's sky,
Achieving some mysterious work on high,
A thought that shines with an ethereal gleam,
A passing river with a heavenly breast,
That also feels a thousand joys of earth,
The distant sound of some fair village mirth,
A snow-clad mountain in a moonlight rest,
A war-clash and a woe that fades away,
A desolation that shall bloom again,
A look of love though shaded with reserve,
Some hieroglyph unread, yet clear as day:
Like each in turn thy life shines forth to men,
Impelled by Love to wonder and to serve.