Classic Poem

I stopped; the beckoning roads urged on in vain.
A dark, malignant power seemed to smite
The world with fearful silence, like a blight;
And earth became one dead and haunted plain.
The huddled woods, the crouching hills breathed pain.
Only the fireflies moved, their timid light
Seemed like down-hearted stars, lost in the night;
Struggling for skies they never could attain.

And then the genial moon sprang through a cloud,
As ruddy as a fat-cheeked country boy,
Spilling his mellow and impartial mirth.
I faced the Silence — and it laughed out loud
And spurred me forward, swinging hands with Joy;
Bold with the gay companionship of Earth.