SUMMER BY THE LAKE-SIDE
NOON
White clouds, whose shadows haunt the deep
Light mists, whose soft embraces keep
The sunshine on the hills asleep!
0, isles of calm!—0, dark, still wood!
And stiller skies that overbrood
Your rest with deeper quietude!
O, shapes and hues, dim beckoning, through
Yon mountain gaps, my longing view
Beyond the purple and the blue,
To stiller sea and greener land,
And softer lights and airs more bland,
And skies—the hollow of God's hand!
Transfused through you, 0 mountain friends:
With mine your solemn spirit blends,
And life no more hath separate ends.
I read each misty mountain sign,
I know the voice of wave and pine,
And I am yours, and ye are mine.
Life's burdens fall, its discords cease,
I lapse into the glad release
Of Nature's own exceeding peace.
0, welcome calm of heart and mind!
As falls yon fir-tree's loosened rind
To leave a tenderer growth behind,
So fall the weary years away;
A child again, my head I lay
Upon the lap of this sweet day.
This western wind hath
Lethean powers,
Yon noon-day cloud Nepenthe showers,
The lake is white with lotus-flowers!