Classic Poem

The dark cloud is over, the storm flies away,
The sun glances out at the closing of day;
The air now is freshened with rain and with dew,
And the turf shows a greener and livelier hue;
Though day is departing, the birds are awake,
And in full burst are merry in forest and brake;
The mist hovers over the fountain and rill,
And curls in light folds on the slope of the hill;
The bright arch of beauty its loveliness throws
O'er the cloud, as the west takes the tint of the rose.

New fragrance is flowing from garden and bower,
The flowers are all urns deeply filled with the shower,
And their incense is rising and floating away,
To hallow and sweeten the closing of day;
The lily, in purer and silkier white,
Is gemmed with the tenderest touches of light,
The rose shines with deeper carnation, and breathes
Softer balm, as the maiden her coronal wreathes,
And brighter and clearer the round pearls that drip
From its leaflets to blend with the dew of her lip.

O, there is not a sweeter and lovelier hour,
Than the bright sunny evening that follows a shower!
Like a hand o'er the heart-strings in tenderness thrown,
It tunes every thought to the mellowest tone;
Then the eye flashes keen, though the pressed lip be still,
And hand touches hand with a livelier thrill;
Then soft words, in whispers of fondness, are flowing,
And the cheek with the warm flush of passion is glowing;
There is silence and sweetness in earth and in air,
And the spirit of love and of beauty is there.