The Cloud

I am the daughter of earth and water

And the nursling of the sky

I pass through the pores of the oceans and shores

I change, but cannot die

For after the rain, when with never a stain

The pavilion of heaven is bare

And the winds and sunbeams, with their convex gleams

Build up the blue dome of air

I silently laugh at my own cenotaph

And out of the caverns of rain

Like a child from the womb, like a ghost from the tomb

I arise and unbuild it again

I bring fresh showers for the thirsting flowers

From the seas and from the streams

I bear light shade for the leaves when they

In their noonday dreams

From my wings are shaken the dews that waken

The sweet birds every one

And rock to rest on their mother's breast

As she dances about the sun

I wield the flail on the lashing hail

And whiten the green plains under

And then again I dissolve it in rain

And laugh as I pass in thunder

I am the daughter of earth and water

And the nursling of the sky

I pass through the pores of the oceans and shores

I change, but cannot die

For after the rain, when with never a stain

The pavilion of heaven is bare

And the winds and sunbeams, with their convex gleams

Build up the blue dome of air

I silently laugh at my own cenotaph

And out of the caverns of rain

Like a child from the womb, like a ghost from the tomb