Like gloomy ghosts of sweeter sunshine past,
The leaden clouds steal o'er the colorless sky.
As far as eye can reach the white sands lie
Untrod and billowed as the waves at sea.
Aurora's smothered rays invisibly
Hide in the heav'ns; the desert still and vast
Is swept by torrent winds that hurl the sand
Mountainously high in one great blinding cloud,—
A scented rainfall fills the silent land—
The voice of singing show'rs laughs aloud.