THE MORNING CLOUD.
33
It gathered the rose of the ruby's rays,
And the violet's amethyst shade;
Then wrapped the hills in its amber fold,
And robed the valley in garments of gold,
By the sun's last beams arrayed.
And the violet's amethyst shade;
Then wrapped the hills in its amber fold,
And robed the valley in garments of gold,
By the sun's last beams arrayed.
And the traveller sighed for the cloudless land,
Till the glory of earth was dim;
Most precious of all in his home above
The Son of the Father, whose boundless love
Gave the Lord of that glory to him.
Till the glory of earth was dim;
Most precious of all in his home above
The Son of the Father, whose boundless love
Gave the Lord of that glory to him.
His soul sped on to his Father's house
Afar—to the City of Light,
"With its fair foundations and pearly gates,
Where Christ in the mansion His loved one waits,
In the day that hath no more night.
Afar—to the City of Light,
"With its fair foundations and pearly gates,
Where Christ in the mansion His loved one waits,
In the day that hath no more night.
He blessed the sorrow that darkened his day,
The cross it was his to bear;
It lifted from earth each low desire,
As the cloud of the morn was a chariot of fire,—
The fairest, where all is fair.
The cross it was his to bear;
It lifted from earth each low desire,
As the cloud of the morn was a chariot of fire,—
The fairest, where all is fair.
The cloud must come, and the tears will fall,
As God sendeth forth the rain;
The shadows are weaving the rainbow's zone,
And each bright ray is a lonely one,
Till gathered to heaven again.
As God sendeth forth the rain;
The shadows are weaving the rainbow's zone,
And each bright ray is a lonely one,
Till gathered to heaven again.
