Poems (Acton)/Lights and Shadows

LIGHTS AND SHADOWS. ——

'Tis beautiful by woodland green
 To watch the dancing sunbeams play,
The drooping willow leaves between;
 While motionless on summer day,
Amid the rays that round them gleam,
The shadows sleep upon the stream.

Oh! closely, wheresoe'er they be,
 Those lights and shades are still entwined;
For when the sunbeam's glance we see,
 The shadow stealeth on behind,
And with its sombre hue doth lend
More beauty to its golden friend.

So is it with life's changing scene;
 Its present joy doth oft efface
The memory of what hath been,
 Tho' on each care-worn brow the trace
Of sorrow's iron-hand may be
Written, alas! how legibly!

Aye, brighter for the passing shade,
 The fleeting rays of pleasure seem,
Though hopes that round our heart had played
 May shed no more their joyous gleam;
Yet in the sun that shines at last,
We lose the shadow of the past.

And better far, tho' keen the dart,
 That chequered thus our path should be;
For well we know the human heart
 Doth rust in long prosperity;
But chastened by the shadow's night,
We learn to bless the sunbeam bright.
H. A.