The Rhythm in Storm 
 
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 J. H. A. B. WILLIAMS 
 
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The Rhythm in Storm 
 
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 }fHi^Af%: HILLIAMS 
 
COPYRrGHT 191S 
 
 J. H. A. B. WILLIAMS 
 
 Al_l_ RIGHTS RESERVED 
 
 ©CI.A492087 
 m 28 1918 
 
 V' \ 
 
 
TO 
 MY LITERARY FRIENDS 
 
 In this otTori I have Kiven expression to my 
 thouKht by traiislatiniC waves of emotional impulse 
 into natural waves of verse and rhythm. 
 
 May "The Rhythm in Storm" suj^^est not only 
 the rhythm in Nature hut also the appeal that 
 rhythm makes to every well-ordered life. 
 
 .1. H. A. r.. W. 
 
The Rhythm in Storm. 
 
 The sultry summer night wears slowly on. 
 Save for the bells that mark the flocks 
 
 on near-by hills, no sound is heard— 
 The voices of the night are still. 
 That deathly stillness, which in itself 
 
 strikes fear into the heart, 
 And which portends great storms, broods 
 
 o'er the earth- - 
 Dread silence rules the night. 
 
Not long,- this lavk of stir ind inactivity. 
 The distant west Kfrows dim and pale 
 As up the vaulted sky the clouds fast- 
 
 jratherinK creep, the stars ro out — 
 Flashes of li^ht aKainst the leaden sky, 
 
 now kIow and pale. 
 Low rumhlinKs. as if 'twere muffled drums. 
 
 with measured i-hythm L>eat the air — 
 Faint heralds of the coming storm. 
 
 The storm comes on apace- - 
 
 As the wakintr lion leaves its lair. 
 
 and with Rleamin^ eyes and mighty roar 
 
 Koes forth to terrorize the earth. 
 So. hut far more terrible, the wakinjr storm 
 
 (juits its dread abode and descefids 
 
 upon the home of man. 
 
The mighty wind, long-slumbering, 
 
 loosed at last, with demoniac shriek 
 sweeps down the brow of yonder hill 
 for midnight revelry — 
 To wrestle with the giant trees— 
 To pit its strength against the works 
 
 of man. 
 Serpent-like the lightning hurls itself, 
 
 and bores great holes into the night— 
 From cloud to cloud, from sky to earth, 
 
 it follows in its unseen paths- 
 Happy, we, if in its path no life is found. 
 The thunder's crash— earth's deepest sound- 
 reverberates from hill to hill — 
 is thrown back and back again. 
 Until it finds at last the valley's length. 
 And what was once a rattling crash 
 
. becomes deep music, as it ktows faint 
 and still more faint, and leaves 
 the valley. 
 With rhythmic pittt'r-()at tht* rain lH*>^ins 
 
 to fall- 
 Heaven's Hoods no lonj^er held intact 
 descend upon the parching: earth, — 
 lo tjuench its burniuK thirst - 
 to scour to cleanse. 
 And if confined, perhaps, destroy. 
 
 And, so there is a rush of sound — 
 
 The rain's faint lisp— the thunder's roar — 
 
 the wind's wild shriek. 
 Sometimes 'tis soothinjc music to the eai*. 
 
 and then distracting^ noise, as if 'twen* 
 
 demons in despair 
 
The sweetest note that ever sped the 
 Hving' lyre— 
 
 The weirdest shriek that ever left 
 a demon's throat— is there— 
 
 The harmonies and discords soothe and grate. 
 
 Mingled with varied sounds, the lightning- 
 glares — 
 
 Flash after flash lights up the ebon night, 
 only to be hurled back in the unequal 
 strife— 
 
 Not light but darkness rules the night. 
 
 With unabated zeal the storm raves on- 
 'Tis Nature blending all that's worst 
 
 and best— 
 'Tis but the conflict that precedes great 
 
 peace. 
 
At length ihe storm, its fury s^»ent. 
 
 sweeps by — 
 The lijfhtninjf's power j^rows less and less 
 The rolling thiinflcr's distani in*al luuiv 
 
 sweet and low. 
 
 Before the wind, the clouds brush down 
 
 the eastern sky. and all is calm. 
 
 and hrijfht. and l)eautiful — 
 From out the starry sky. the wandenng moon 
 
 looks forth upon a new-washed eai'th. 
 And with reflected ^lory says. "The strife 
 
 is o'er -the sun. though hidden, shines - 
 Some Unseen Hand still guides, 
 
 and all is well." 
 
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