Poems (Trask)/Early Fancies

by Clara Augusta Jones Trask

EARLY FANCIES.

A little child I loved the night,
 The purple twilight sky,—
The yellow moon hung like a lamp
 Up in the arched dome high;
And when June's sunshine kissed the hills,
 Played on the clover slopes,
I said the stars were coming down
 To earth on silver ropes.

In the lone autumn of the year,
 I watched through window bars
The last faint crimson fade away
 Before the brightening stars;
And then I feared the angels' cheeks
 Were paling at some grief;
I thought, perhaps they, too, bemoaned
 The "sere and yellow leaf."

Winter came on, with glory nights
 Of Northern skies aflame:
My childish heart was awed by these,
 And trembled at their name!
For then, I thought, the great, good God,
 From His bright home on high,
Was angry at my many sins,
 So burnt the midnight sky.

But lovely spring-time, dressed in flowers,
 Blushed o'er the happy earth;
My soul arose! my spirit woke
 To a thrice nobler birth!
When I looked up to the mild skies,
 I deemed myself forgiven,
And through the mist I almost saw
 The pearly gates of Heaven.