Thoughts - An 1856 Poem

They come when the sunset

Is bright on the mountain;

They come when the moonlight

Is clear on the fountain;

At noon and at even,

By minutes and hours,

They come from the forest,

From birds and from flowers.

 

They come when some token

Of days past will rise,

As a link to the present,

And then they bring sighs;

They come when some vision

Of hope and of fears

Rushes on to the future,

And then they bring tears.

 

They come when the sea mist

O'er ocean is rife,

And they tell of the shadow

That hangs over life,

They come when the tempest,

In thunder and gloom

Howls around, and they speak

Of the earth and the tomb.

 

They come when the ripple

Is low on the lake,

And the plover is nestling

By fountain and brake,

And the twilight looks out,

With germs on his breast —

And they whisper that all,

Save themselves are at rest.

 

They come when the light wind

Is fanning the leaves;

They come when the flower cup

The dew drop receives —

By night's death like silence,

By day's noontide hum,

At all times, Oh! deeply

And darkly they come.

September 10, 1856. Western Reserve Chronicle 41(4): 1.