A SHADOW haunts my days and dreams,
Keeps near me in my home,
And when I wander out it seems
To roam where'er I roam.

It dims for me the shining sea,
Scars sunlit plains with gloom;
And eerily it wails to me
Dirges of death and doom.

It blurs the beauty of the sky,
Smudges each azure hill;
And when entombed by night I lie
'Tis close beside me still.

Darker than very darkness seems
This shade of starless night,
It sullies sleep, eclipses dreams,
And murks the morning light.

— O Fount of Everlasting Day,
Light lives in Thee alone,
Soon, soon may I awake, I pray,
To find the Shadow gone.