The Shadow of a Cloud

ALL day the small cloud floated by
Like a white bird beneath the sun.
There was never a cloud in all the sky
As white as that least one.

“ All day long,” quoth the little gray shadow,
“ I climb this hillside green and steep.
The shepherd sings to his flocks all day,
But I am not his to keep.
My ways are wide, though I be gray
As the least wayworn sheep.

“I dream, I dream,” quoth the little gray shadow,
“ And in my dreams there be
A blowing cloak and the breath of a pipe,
And many a one like me.
My shepherd is in my dreams ; my ways
Are with his song,” quoth he.

“Along the road o’ the wind and sun
I journey up the mountain side,
And there are flowers or dust or stone
In the places where I bide,
And there is wind in the thick green grass,
And birds at eventide.”

All day the small cloud floated by
Like a white lily under the sun.
There was never a cloud in all the sky
As white as that least one.

“ I dream, I dream,” quoth the little gray shadow,
“In sooth, I do not know,
But on those wild wind-hills I see
A white cloud come and go.
Like wind in grass amid my dreams
The stars weave to and fro.

“ My heart is strange,” quoth the little gray shadow,
“ My thoughts are strange and far.
The bird in the grass has brushed his wings,
Sings he, against a star ! ”
The shadow i’ the grass has leagues to run
Where the brown earth pastures are.

“I dream, I dream,” quoth the little gray shadow,
That slipped over water and stone.
“All day I sing to myself in my heart
That I travel or tarry alone,
But the bird in the grass has touched a cloud,
And my ways are not mine own ! ”

All day the small cloud floated by
Alone in the wide space under the sun.
There was never a cloud in all the sky
As white as that least one.

Anna Hempstead Branch.