32
THE MORNING CLOUD.
The parched earth drank up the crystal drops;
While the brook, with its gurgling rills,
Proclaimed that the cloud had not wept in vain;
For down in the valley it wandered again,
To sing of the God of the hills.
While the brook, with its gurgling rills,
Proclaimed that the cloud had not wept in vain;
For down in the valley it wandered again,
To sing of the God of the hills.
Then warbled the joyous birds in the brake,
For the shower so soft and cool;
The panting cattle, that seemed to sink
In the noontide stillness, have stooped to drink,
Mid-way in the glassy pool.
For the shower so soft and cool;
The panting cattle, that seemed to sink
In the noontide stillness, have stooped to drink,
Mid-way in the glassy pool.
The wild goat browsed on the herbage scant,
Where seldom a foot had trod;
In their rocky home gambolled the conies gray,
For the heaven-sent cloud had passed that way,
And they found their food from God.
Where seldom a foot had trod;
In their rocky home gambolled the conies gray,
For the heaven-sent cloud had passed that way,
And they found their food from God.
The moistened herb breathed its fragrant breath,
Where a traveller paused to gaze:
The dark cloud borrowed a light from the sky;
O'er the path where its shade had passed mournfully,
There echoed a song of praise.
Where a traveller paused to gaze:
The dark cloud borrowed a light from the sky;
O'er the path where its shade had passed mournfully,
There echoed a song of praise.
The black pall rolled o'er the rocky coast,
And parted before his eyes,
At the sunset hour: as flowers may bloom
From unsightly roots in the earth's dark womb,
It spread o'er the western skies.
And parted before his eyes,
At the sunset hour: as flowers may bloom
From unsightly roots in the earth's dark womb,
It spread o'er the western skies.
