By by Frances Bret Harte
Submitted by jwb71913
Date: 2004 Jun 18
Comment on this Work
[[2004.06.18.15.11.7694]]

FATE

Fate

by Frances Bret Harte

The sky is clouded, the rocks are bare,
The spray of the tempest is white in air,
The winds are out with the waves at play,
And I shall not tempt the sea today.

The trail is narrow, the wood is dim,
The panther clings to the arching limb,
And the lion's whelps are abroad at play,
And I shall not join in the chase today.

But the ship sailed safely over the sea,
And the hunters came home from the chase in glee,
And the town that was builded upon a rock
Was swallowed up in the earthquake shock.