Mirage

I saw in dreams a landscape
With not a shadow by,
It seemed so like a promise
Half-hidden in the sky.

There were high hills and mountains
In purple drest and green,
Like shades and shapes fantastic
Only in dreaming seen.

The waters clear and limpid
Had but a speck to mar,
For in the depths was mirrored
The image of a Star.

Only but once there hovered
Indistinct forms and lone,
Calling to mind the faces
I knew in days by-gone.

I seemed to see them falter
As they were lost to view,
They paused and fell to doubting
Which pathway to pursue.

To them faint words were given,
I thought I heard them say,
We know not where to wander,
But cannot choose to stay.

“Over the realms of heaven
We silently must rove,
With but the Star to guide us
Back to the friends we love.”

Ah, fleeting are the fancies,
Deceiving us too well,
Nor sage nor saint can fathom
The mysteries they tell.