| Hunt and Lee, comps. The Book of the Sonnet. 1867. | | | | V. “Which are the clouds, and which the mountains?” | | By Henry Timrod (1828–1867) |
| | | WHICH are the clouds, and which the mountains? See, | |
| They mix and melt together! Yon blue hill | |
| Looks fleeting as the vapors which distil | |
| Their dews upon its summit, while the free | |
| And far-off clouds, now solid, dark, and still, | 5 |
| An aspect wear of calm eternity. | |
| Each seems the other, as our fancies will, | |
| The cloud a mount, the mount a cloud, and we | |
| Gaze doubtfully. So everywhere on earth— | |
| This foothold, where we stand, with slipping feet— | 10 |
| The unsubstantial and substantial meet; | |
| And we are fooled until made wise by Time. | |
| Is not the obvious lesson something worth, | |
| Lady? or have I woven an idle rhyme? | | | | |
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