The fiery javelins of heaven are hurled On zigzag trails to quivering earth; While cannonade of the warrior clouds Proclaim abroad the tempest's birth. The mountain ranges loom, revealed Within the glare of light that flies So quickly, yet returns to begin A new attack from the lowering skies. The first plump scattered drops descend. A breeze pricks up its foxy ears, And scampers out to be on hand To shake and slant the silver tears. The torrent falls with a savage rush, A filtered sea turned upside down. Hawaii smothers, caught in the folds That form the train of a misty gown. Each mountain gulch a waterfall, Each stream a flood of whirling foam Which carries upon its swollen face The tragic marks of bridge and home. The country fields are marshy lakes; The towns are crouched in quiet gloom; The island roads are dark, forlorn, As beat the ceaseless drops of doom. A waterspout is viewed from shore: It twirls on high, then bursts to spray While tidal waves, that pound the coast, Leave sampans wrecked along the way. Cyclonic wind goes twisting past And rudely bends the tapering palm To fashion a whim, yet cannot break Its pliant body, firm and calm. The storm abates as twilight appears -- The wind, that whipped the trees, has withdrawn. Another day . . . a mynah shrills Its welcome notes to a golden dawn. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...CUDDLE DOON by ALEXANDER ANDERSON LIFE [AND DEATH] by ANNA LETITIA BARBAULD THE KINGFISHER by WILLIAM HENRY DAVIES A SONG TO A FAIR YOUNG LADY GOING OUT OF TOWN IN THE SPRING by JOHN DRYDEN THE HOUSE OF LIFE: 98. HE AND I by DANTE GABRIEL ROSSETTI THE YOUNG GRAY HEAD by CAROLINE ANNE BOWLES SOUTHEY TRACT by WILLIAM CARLOS WILLIAMS OF THE REED THAT THE JEWS SET IN OUR SAVIOUR'S HAND by WILLIAM ALABASTER LAURENCE BLOOMFIELD IN IRELAND: 3. ISAAC BROWN by WILLIAM ALLINGHAM |