 | Three Hundred Sonnets |  |
21
THE KALEIDOSCOPE.
I saw a child with a kaleidoscope,Turning at will the tesselated field;
And straight my mental eye became unseal'd,
I learnt of life, and read its horoscope:
Behold, how fitfully the patterns change!
The scene is azure now with hues of Hope,
Now sober'd grey by Disappointment strange,
With Love's own roses blushing, warm and bright,
Black with Hate's heat, or white with Envy's cold,
Made glorious by Religion's purple light,
Or sicklied o'er with yellow lust of Gold:
So, good or evil coming, peace or strife,
Zeal when in youth, and Avarice when old,
In changeful chanceful phases passeth Life.
| Three Hundred Sonnets | |