Classic Poem

I.

My heart was like a wooded vale,
Bright with a summer afternoon,
With shades so thick the sun was pale
And thin as an autumnal moon;
And winds made stirs in every tree,
Most like a far-off, quiet sea.

II.

There came a cloud o'er this bright home,
Sudden and strange; and no one knew
From whence the omen dark had come
When all the sky around was blue.
The wind dropped down; and sounds came near,
Like thunder when the air is clear.

III.

Still hangs that gloomy cloud above,
Hiding the glorious sun, whose power
Once shed romantic lights of love
On moorland stream and forest bower,
When all things wore a charm to me,
Of sweetest unreality.

IV.

In pale and tarnished green, the trees
Stand by yon brook in silent row:
Rills that made songs to every breeze
Have lost the music of their flow:
And wildflowers mourn the summer air
That comes not now to wanton there.

V.

Ah, brother! — wouldst thou know how much
My aching heart in thee doth live?
One look of thy quick eye — one touch
Of thy dear hand last night could give
Fresh hopes to shine amid my fears.
And thoughts that shed themselves in tears.