Classic Poem

On the rose a rain-drop lay
In the shadow by the river,
And afar it saw the bay
In the sunlight curve and quiver.

Was it happy in its world
Of cool gloom and pale sweet greenery,
Sheltered from the winds that hurled
Into woe the bay's dim scenery?

What was day or what was night
To its faintly-hued seclusion,
While the raptures of fierce light,
And the winds dared not intrusion?

But the haughty river rose,
Scornful of the banks that bound it,
And it poured its overflows
In a weltering waste around it.

Rose and violet and lily pale
Perished in the wild commotion;
Ah, what eager hopes assail,
As the drop speeds towards the ocean!

Mixed with all the tides it crept
To the outer world of joyance,
Where the wild winds whirled and swept,
Where the fleet waves danced in buoyance.