Classic Poem

Oh, dark was the day, without sunlight or cheer,
And dreary the moments that lengthen'd to hours;
A gloom over all seem'd to hang from the clouds,
And the rain fell like tears from the wet drooping flow'rs,
But then at the last, came a breeze from the west
That open'd the clouds to the blue sunny sky;
The hill-tops all golden with glittering crest,
Gave joy to the heart and a charm to the eyes;
The tempest was over the thunder so loud,
And out in the east came a " Bow in the Cloud "

2.

A mother sat watching, with sorrowful gaze,
The face of her darling, so calm and so mild,
A grief in her bosom, a tear in her eye,
For Death the destroyer, had taken her child;
But ah, in her sorrow, she inwardly thought,
T'were better that he, than that I should have fled,
For Heaven seems nearer and dearer by far,
And he shall not mourn for a fond mother dead
As o'er his cold bosom she folded the shroud,
She saw in the distance the " Bow in the Cloud. "

3.

She said, as she gazed on the delicate form,
" The righteous are taken from evil to come "
The wheat is no longer left out in the storm,
The spirit is sunning, and safely at home;
The cord that hath bound me so closely to earth,
At last, is a chain that shall lead me elsewhere,
Shall draw me to Zion when sorrows are o'er,
And add a new joy to the Paradise there;
Then thanks for the comfort by Heaven allow'd,
Then thanks for the promise
The " Bow in the Cloud. "