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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


CLOUD TRACERY by EDWARD ROWLAND SILL

First Line: WHAT WIND FROM WHAT CELESTIAL WOOD HATH SOWN
Last Line: OF WORDS LIKE FAITH, AND CONFIDENCE, AND PEACE.

WHAT wind from what celestial wood hath sown
Such delicate seed as springs in air, and turns
The blue heaven-garden to a bed of ferns
In feathery cloud? They are not tossed, or blown

To such wild shapes, but motionless they ride,
Like a celestial frost-work on the pane
Of our sky-window, where the breath has lain
Of the pure cold upon the thither side.

They are but pencil touches, soft and light,
Traced faintly under some magnetic spell
By an entranced spirit, that would write

Hints of heaven-language ere the soul's release, --
Dim outlines of the syllables that tell
Of words like faith, and confidence, and peace.



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