HEAT overspread the earth, the birds were dumb;
A shrouding of white cloud, which was not cloud,
Or mist, which was not mist, half hid the sun
And half betrayed; Sleep poured her drowsy draught
Over the morning eyes of student men,
And all was stirless: yet the day advanced;
There were loud outcries in the market-place;
And busy women hurried to and fro,
Each on her errand, till the evening came.
Then toward the sundown rose a mighty storm
Which roused the sleeping earth, and raging aimless winds
Tore the great seas and ravaged all the land;
Then the impatient spirits whose languid noon
Darkened the sweetness of their summer day
Arose and met the awful feet of the Lord,
Walking the earth and teaching men to know
There shall be times to work and times to wait
We cannot understand, until the hour
When we shall pass the boundary of the sun.