Sunless Days

They come to ev'ry life — sad, sunless days,

With not a light all o'er their clouded skies;

And thro’ the dark we grope along our ways

With hearts fear-filled, and lips low-breathing sighs.

Hast felt it? I have felt it, and I know

How oft and suddenly the shadows roll

From out the depths of some dim realm of woe,

To wrap their darkness round the human soul.

Those days are darker than the very night;

For nights have stars, and sleep, and happy dreams;

But these days bring unto the spirit-sight

The mysteries of gloom, until it seems

The light is gone forever, and the dark

Hangs like a pall of death above the soul,

Which rocks amid the gloom like storm-swept bark,

And sinks beneath a sea where tempests roll.