The Sun on the Trees
Reading edition
THE sun within the leafy woods Is like a midday moon, So soft upon these solitudes Is bent the face of noon. Loosed from the outside summer blaze A few gold arrows stray; A vagrant brilliance droops or plays Through all the dusky day. The gray trunk feels a touch of light, While, where dead leaves are deep, A gleam of sunshine golden white Lies like a soul asleep. And just beyond dank-rooted ferns, Where darkening hemlocks sigh And leaves are dim, the bare road burns Beneath a dazzling sky.