Clouds

There are times when the clouds close o'er,
And the sun disappears from our sight;
And the day, tho a moment before
All sunshine, is shrouded in night.

So sickness and sorrow close down
On the sunbeamy days of our life,
And we lie in the night of God's frown
And pray for relief from our strife.

Grief's shades are as real as those shrouds
That darken the world with their forms.
Oh were they as light as the clouds,
Our lives might know fewer soul storms.

But the future will roll all away.
Take cheer lonely heart the deep gloom
Will break forth and effulgence of May
Smile over thy beauty and bloom.

Colfax Burgoyne Harman