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THE HEAVEN-SIDE, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: The sky was soft with tender blue
Last Line: Seem isles of peace in upper air.
Alternate Author Name(s): Van Deth, Gerrit, Mrs.
Subject(s): Angels; God; Heaven; Peace; Paradise


THE sky was soft with tender blue,
As heaven itself were shining through,
And far above our restless world
Its bannered peace was wide unfurled.

The distant mountains' purple line
Was bathed in splendor all divine,
And seemed the valley's cup to brim
With waves of beauty to the rim.

The very wind was soft and sweet
That rocked the grass-blades at our feet,
And gently did the zephyrs blow
Across the buckwheat's billowy snow.

When lo, a change! The tranquil sky
Grew dark,—the thick clouds drifted by;
Like battled hosts in war's array,
Their vengeful ranks assault the day!

And grim and sullen, fold on fold,
They hide the summer's shining gold,
Till wood and field and wayside path
Are menaced in their stormy wrath.

Still o'er them soft that tender blue,
With heaven's brightness gleaming through,
All steadfast, radiant, undismayed,
Too lifted up to be afraid.

And while we shivered in the gray
Thick-falling gloom that wrapped the day,
Lo, touched by spears of sunny light,
The clouds were edged with sparkling white!

Ah! looked on from the heaven-side,
They surely must be glorified,
And where God sees them, floating fair,
Seem isles of peace in upper air.





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