To the Lake

Oh, rolling lake, profound and deep, In your depths the sunbeams play; They dance and laugh, as I stand and weep, For you are now the day of the day. Like a mother you wrap me round In your arms of a silken clasp; Your waves like a mother’s breast resound, While I falter, like a child’s gasp.

You glisten beneath the bright, blue sky, And bathe the hills in your light. And I shall stand, as the sundrops die, And slowly gliding in the night.

Oh veil the dreamer with your waves, Until my soul takes wings and flies; As the light too slowly fades and saves, And the last, bright after-glow dies.

• Paul Laurence Dunbar