A Bed of Flame

I saw one day on the horizon grey, As with my load I wandered near the sea, A whiff of smoke embrace the sleeping sun; And just as their enchantment had begun, A lonely cloud that roved above the lea Passed by their couch and hid them from the day.

I saw this and my soul, long silent, cried: “Would that I were the whiff of smoke Now sleeping with the sun! In beds of flame, how often was I tried— How often have I ’neath the stroke Of God or Satan shone!”