. Twilight dreams: being poems and pictures of life and nature . T^ Sank deepest down upon the woodKnd ^lade,d all the buds weie mute—1 H) besideA lake within the tores- b he lit and Lulled by the heat, half sleeping halt au ake,I saw, or diearned I saw, within the lakeStiani^e shadow) phantoms mo\inj to and fro And, floating on the surface, bubbles brightAnd many-hued were dancing— and azure, and of every shade That Iris steals from sunshine when the light Pierces the rain-drops. Ever and anon I saw the phantom-creatures spring to snatchSome glittering bubble, and at last to ca
. Twilight dreams: being poems and pictures of life and nature . T^ Sank deepest down upon the woodKnd ^lade,d all the buds weie mute—1 H) besideA lake within the tores- b he lit and Lulled by the heat, half sleeping halt au ake,I saw, or diearned I saw, within the lakeStiani^e shadow) phantoms mo\inj to and fro And, floating on the surface, bubbles brightAnd many-hued were dancing— and azure, and of every shade That Iris steals from sunshine when the light Pierces the rain-drops. Ever and anon I saw the phantom-creatures spring to snatchSome glittering bubble, and at last to catch An airy globe that burst—and then t was gone. And down the creatures fell, or, thrust aside By others struggling upwards, passed from sightAnd some, before they reached the waters heiglit Where played these mocking globules, sank and died While now and then I saw some creature lieCalm and unmoving, though before its eyesOn the translucent water glowed a prize Brightest and largest, dancing vainly by. i6. -Man, what thou seest, is the type of life. And all those creatures are thy felluw men, Evermore vainly seeking to attainThose bubble-prizes amid toil and strife-Power and wealth and fame. Yet some, more wise. Know they are vanity and empty air, And so they heed them not. and give no careTo gain the glittenng things the others prize. Soon all those little lives shall pass away, And all those bubbles burst. Then, mortal, knowThe nothingness of all things here below. Elsewhere the Real seek. From whf re 1 lay I sprang affrighted, and I looked saw the fishes swimming in the up swift the summer flies to take, And heard the grasshoppers clear ringing Francis Waller, 17
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, bookid, booksubjectenglishpoetry
