That sun which is yonder so brightly declining,
That you look at with careless delight,
Full many a lesson of wisdom might teach,
Were you skilful to read them aright.
You have seen him envelop’d in dark-boding clouds,
When the rain and the tempest appears,
When the mists of the ev’ning compass’d him round,
And shadow’d his beauty in tears.
But knew you that this was an emblem of one
Whose bosom is clouded with sin,
Whom sorrow has veil’d with the tears of contrition,
And darken’d by tempests within.
The world, all mistaking of what it beholds,
With pity insulting looks on,
And esteems that the hope of the saint is destroy’d,
That the seal of salvation is gone.
But as yonder fair sun, o’er the fast fleeting clouds
That menacing gather below,
Proceeds on his course, and, though darken’d to us,
No change in his brightness can know:
So the Spirit of God in the child of His love,
Unalter’d by sin or by sorrow,
If obscur’d by the vapours of passion to-night,
Will shine the more brightly to-morrow.
And oft you have seen when the morning has lower’d,
And the noon-day been chilling and drear,
And the evening threaten’d for wind and for fain,
A last gleam of sunshine appear;
Appear with a brightness so pure, so serene,
Dispelling the mists that infold,
That the clouds it is leaving, so awful before,
Themselves are all turned to gold.
So the saint who has finish’d his day upon earth,
Serenely and brightly declining,
Sheds a lustre unearthly on all things around,
In future beatitude shining.
His morning of life may be cheerless and dull,
His manhood embarrass’d with ill,
His evening comfortless, friendless, and sad,
And his death-bed be glorious still.
(Caroline Fry)
More Poetry from Caroline Fry:
Caroline Fry Poems based on Topics: Sadness, Love, World, God, Morning, Sin, Hope, Life, Passion, Wisdom & Knowledge, Education- Patience (Caroline Fry Poems)
- On the Love of God (Caroline Fry Poems)
- Unto Him That Loved Us And Washed Us From Our Sins (Caroline Fry Poems)
- In Answer To A Remark (Caroline Fry Poems)
- On Hearing It Said There Is No Satisfactory Happiness On Earth (Caroline Fry Poems)
- Easter Thoughts (Caroline Fry Poems)
Readers Who Like This Poem Also Like:
Based on Topics: Love Poems, God Poems, Life Poems, World Poems, Sadness Poems, Hope Poems, Gold Poems, Wisdom & Knowledge Poems, Morning Poems, Education Poems, Sin PoemsBased on Keywords: envelop, mistaking, infold, esteems, unalter, obscur, dispelling, embarrass