Far clouds of feathery gold,
Shaded with deepest purple, gleam
Like islands on a dark blue sea.

Far clouds of feathery gold,
Shaded with deepest purple, gleam
Like islands on a dark blue sea.

O, it is pleasant, with a heart at ease,
Just after sunset, or by moonlight skies,
To read more

O, it is pleasant, with a heart at ease,
Just after sunset, or by moonlight skies,
To make the shifting clouds be what you please,
Or let the easily persuaded eyes
Own each quaint likeness issuing from the mould
Of a friend's fancy.

By unseen hand uplifted in the light
Of sunset, yonder solitary cloud
Floats, with its white apparel read more

By unseen hand uplifted in the light
Of sunset, yonder solitary cloud
Floats, with its white apparel blown abroad,
And wafted up to heaven.

Though outwardly a gloomy shroud,
The inner half of every cloud
Is bright and shining:
read more

Though outwardly a gloomy shroud,
The inner half of every cloud
Is bright and shining:
I therefore turn my clouds about
And always wear them inside out
To show the lining.

If woolly fleeces spread the heavenly way
No rain, be sure, disturbs the summer's day.

If woolly fleeces spread the heavenly way
No rain, be sure, disturbs the summer's day.

See yonder little cloud, that, borne aloft
So tenderly by the wind, floats fast away
Over the read more

See yonder little cloud, that, borne aloft
So tenderly by the wind, floats fast away
Over the snowy peaks!

The low'ring element
Scowls o'er the darken'd landscape.

The low'ring element
Scowls o'er the darken'd landscape.

On the other side of the handrail, the hallway's gray marble floor looks as if we've climbed a stairway through read more

On the other side of the handrail, the hallway's gray marble floor looks as if we've climbed a stairway through the clouds.

The clouds,--the only birds that never sleep.

The clouds,--the only birds that never sleep.