A monotonous routine followed day and night,
reason for a cock’s early morning plight.
Over the mountains, over the hills,
over the highest tower,
one lifetime will be over if he waits for the show to be over.
Every day, every night, they rise and shine;
though one is cold and one is hot, they both shine just fine.
They don’t see each other—never in the day or night;
sometimes one just vanishes, making us wonder if they had a fight.
Why they rise, why they fall—
they are questions whose answer is known to all.
Why one fades and regains each phase,
why one steadily shines through its rays.
They are there for a reason known to all—
did we forget what Newton said at all?
They are no wonder, by all ways;
they follow a set of rules which none can disobey.
But over the years men do disagree—
be it rule or be it fate,
be it church’s will or be it my own,
they are a beauty and a wonder to me,
because they are nature’s gift to me.
Originally published on Paradise Lost.