After the Long Gray Day
By Grace G. Crowell
ALL through the hours from early morn
Until the close of this long day,
I've watched the never-changing gray,
The monotone the world has worn.
How like my life it seemed to be—
One long, vast waste of changelessness—
For I must wear the somber dress
Of waiting, that is given me. And as with idle hands I lie
Learning, perforce, the lesson-rest,
There comes a glory from the west,
A sudden splendor o'er the sky,
And I see from my casement here
The clouds, that, lowering till the night
Has burst them ope with glorious light,
Are beautiful instead of drear. So may it be when you and I
View at the close of life's long day
The clouds that have obscured the way
And hid from us the clearer sky—
May we not see with other eyes
Their grayness turned to golden glow
And understand why it is so,
That God who planned it all, is wise?
— Grace G. Crowell.