Friday, May 14, 2010

By The Stream by Paul Laurence Dunbar


BY the stream I dream in calm delight, and watch as in a glass,


How the clouds like crowds of snowy-hued and white-robed maidens pass,
And the water into ripples breaks and sparkles as it spreads,


Like a host of armored knights with silver helmets on their heads.


And I deem the stream an emblem fit of human life may go,
For I find a mind may sparkle much and yet but shallows show,


And a soul may glow with myriad lights and wondrous mysteries,


When it only lies a dormant thing and mirrors what it sees.