8.8.8.8

I

When clouds obscure the rising sun,

And darkness weeps where joy should sing;

Hail, then, my soul, the day begun,

And wait the light that noon shall bring.

II

If clouds like curtains veil the light,

When day at noon should brightly smile;

Up, then, my soul, it is not night,

The glory tarries but a while.

III

Wait till the hills that bar the west --

That pierce the clouds their summits crown --

Snatch, ere the day declines to rest,

The glory as the sun goes down.

IV

More bright than morn, than noon more fair,

The purple and the gold serene;

The light and rapture everywhere,

That sing, and shine, the clouds between.

V

If waits the joy of God betimes,

And tears bedew where smiles should be;

If dark the noon when sunlight climbs,

The light at eve thine eyes shall see.