A Lake

O soul serene! like some fair, placid lake
That flows on silently 'neath day and night,
What if my spirit, dazed with heat and light.
Drop, drowned in thee! shall a leaf falling make
Thy surface troubled, or a light wind shake
Thy tranquil depths that ever flow aright?
O cold and lovely lake! what tempest's might
Shall ever thy smooth currents part or break?

Thy great, calm beauty can reflect the sun;
The stars are mirrored in thee, and the moon
Beholds her image in thy waveless flow.
So cold, and yet so fair to look upon;
So cold that, even in love's hottest noon.
Thy depths untroubled are more cold than snow.