I chased a rainbow in my youth To seek a pot of gold; I found it not, but find a truth, Now I am growing old. The rainbow arched the tearful skies, The sunlight shining through, And where it touched the earth a prize Must surely be, I knew. High hills, low vales I travelled o'er, O'er ocean, too, I sped; The golden treasure still before, And still the rainbow fled. Meantime the years were gliding by, And I was growing old; Yet still the rainbow filled my eye, My heart the pot of gold. At last the sun began to set Beyond the outer rim Where sea and sky commingling met, Then all around grew dim. My rainbow faded, and I cried, For I was weak and old;— O, I had lost my Iris guide, And missed my pot of gold. Then darkness hemmed me all about, The sea and sky were black, My farther way was one of doubt— If forward, or if back. Then to my listening soul a thought Came with a hope divine— "Beyond the stars the treasure sought, The beauty shall be thine." Now, though I wander all alone, No Iris in my sky, The glory that for me has shone In spirit cannot die. I chased a rainbow in my youth To seek a pot of gold, I found it not, but find a truth, Now I am growing old. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE PARTING OF THE WAYS by JOSEPH BENSON GILDER VIRTUE [OR, VERTUE] by GEORGE HERBERT THE SIFTING OF PETER by HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW ONLY A YEAR' by HARRIET BEECHER STOWE TO THE MAN-OF-WAR-BIRD by WALT WHITMAN TO MY SISTER by WILLIAM WORDSWORTH TENNYSON by THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH |