Trees, and Other Poems

As Winds That Blow Against A Star

     (For Aline)

     Now by what whim of wanton chance
      Do radiant eyes know sombre days?
     And feet that shod in light should dance
      Walk weary and laborious ways?

     But rays from Heaven, white and whole,
      May penetrate the gloom of earth;
     And tears but nourish, in your soul,
      The glory of celestial mirth.

     The darts of toil and sorrow, sent
      Against your peaceful beauty, are
     As foolish and as impotent
      As winds that blow against a star.