The sunlight piercing through the blue wave feeds br The joyous growths that, clustered from the air, br Throw forth their fibres to the Power that breeds br Love in the lives above of all things fair — br The ever-living Sun, that through man's days br Is as the breath of all the thinks and says. br Light streams down to them in that watery mist, br E'en as thought's splendor in a human mood br Life-filling, like a glorious amethyst br Among the mountains in their solitude; br And the sea-things drink in at every pore br The nurture of the light till life is o'er. br Till life is o'er, and Death within the ooze br Then hides them from the joyous light and air; br E'en as, too, in the mind the flaming muse br Burns down to ashes in a world made bare br With want and woe, and the pain whose defeat br Must be by death — when death alone is sweet.