When The Storm Was Proudest

    When the storm was proudest,
    And the wind was loudest,
I heard the hollow caverns drinking down below;
    When the stars were bright,
    And the ground was white,
I heard the grasses springing underneath the snow.

    Many voices spake--
    The river to the lake,
And the iron-ribbed sky was talking to the sea;
    And every starry spark
    Made music with the dark,
And said how bright and beautiful everything must be.

    When the sun was setting,
    All the clouds were getting
Beautiful and silvery in the rising moon;
    Beneath the leafless trees
    Wrangling in the breeze,
I could hardly see them for the leaves of June.

    When the day had ended,
    And the night descended,
I heard the sound of streams that I heard not through the day,
    And every peak afar
    Was ready for a star,
And they climbed and rolled around until the morning gray.

    Then slumber soft and holy
    Came down upon me slowly,
And I went I know not whither, and I lived I know not how;
    My glory had been banished,
    For when I woke it vanished;
But I waited on its coming, and I am waiting now.