Hither thou com'st: the busy wind all night Blew through thy lodging, where thy own warm wing Thy pillow was. Many a sullen storm (For which coarse man seems much the fitter born) Rained on thy bed And harmless head. And now, as fresh and cheerful as the light, Thy little heart in early hymns doth sing Unto that Providence, whose unseen arm Curbed them, and clothed thee well and warm. All things that be, praise him, and had Their lesson taught them when first made. So hills and valleys into singing break; And though poor stones have neither speech nor tongue, While active winds and streams both run and speak, Yet stones are deep in admiration. Thus praise and prayer here beneath the Sun Make lesser mornings when the great are done. For each inclosed spirit is a star Enlightening his own little sphere, Whose light, though fetched and borrowed from far, Both mornings makes and evenings there. But as these birds of light make a land glad, Chirping their solemn matins on each tree: So in the shades of night some dark fowls be, Whose heavy notes make all that hear them sad. The turtle then in palm trees mourns While owls and satyrs howl; The pleasant land to brimstone turns, And all her streams grow foul. Brightness and mirth, and love and faith, all fly, Till the day-spring breaks forth again from high. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...EPITAPH: FOR A LADY I KNOW by COUNTEE CULLEN PRECIOUS WORDS by EMILY DICKINSON THE TUFT OF KELP by HERMAN MELVILLE BREAK OF DAY IN THE TRENCHES by ISAAC ROSENBERG THE SAD SHEPHERD by WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS THE CAUTIOUS HOUSEHOLDER by ANAXILAS PEARLS OF THE FAITH: 43. ALLAH-AL-KARIM by EDWIN ARNOLD TO MRS. PRIESTLEY, WITH SOME DRAWINGS OF BIRDS AND INSECTS by ANNA LETITIA BARBAULD |