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

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

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.

I bring fresh showers for the thirsting flowers,
From the seas and the streams;
I bear light read more

I bring fresh showers for the thirsting flowers,
From the seas and the streams;
I bear light shade for the leaves when laid
In their noonday dreams.
From my wings are shaken the dews that waken
The sweet buds every one,
When rocked to rest on their mother's breast,
As she dances about the sun.
I wield the flail of the lashing hail,
And whiten the green plains under,
And then again I dissolve it in rain,
And laugh as I pass in thunder.

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.

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

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

The cloud never comes from the quarter of the horizon from which we watch for it.

The cloud never comes from the quarter of the horizon from which we watch for it.

Clouds on clouds, in volumes driven,
Curtain round the vault of heaven.

Clouds on clouds, in volumes driven,
Curtain round the vault of heaven.

Choose a firm cloud before it fall, and in it
Catch, ere she change, the Cynthia of this minute.

Choose a firm cloud before it fall, and in it
Catch, ere she change, the Cynthia of this minute.

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.