The clouds,--the only birds that never sleep.

The clouds,--the only birds that never sleep.

Choose a firm cloud before it fall, and in it
Catch, ere she change, the Cynthia of this minute.

Choose a firm cloud before it fall, and in it
Catch, ere she change, the Cynthia of this minute.

Were I a cloud I'd gather
My skirts up in the air,
And fly well know whither,
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Were I a cloud I'd gather
My skirts up in the air,
And fly well know whither,
And rest I well know where.

Was I deceiv'd, or did a sable cloud
Turn forth her silver lining on the night?

Was I deceiv'd, or did a sable cloud
Turn forth her silver lining on the night?

I saw two clouds at morning
Tinged by the rising sun,
And in the dawn they floated read more

I saw two clouds at morning
Tinged by the rising sun,
And in the dawn they floated on
And mingled into one.

If woolly fleeces spread the heavenly way
No rain, be sure, disturbs the summer's day.

If woolly fleeces spread the heavenly way
No rain, be sure, disturbs the summer's day.

Though outwardly a gloomy shroud,
The inner half of every cloud
Is bright and shining:
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Though outwardly a gloomy shroud,
The inner half of every cloud
Is bright and shining:
I therefore turn my clouds about
And always wear them inside out
To show the lining.

But here by the mill the castled clouds
Mocked themselves in the dizzy water.

But here by the mill the castled clouds
Mocked themselves in the dizzy water.

Far clouds of feathery gold,
Shaded with deepest purple, gleam
Like islands on a dark blue sea.

Far clouds of feathery gold,
Shaded with deepest purple, gleam
Like islands on a dark blue sea.