A cloud speaks in proud, sweeping terms about its life: it travels through the night sky while stars seem lit for its delight, casts its shadow over hill and sea, covers the moon, and dims the sun at noon. Nothing can tame or bind it; it is “a child of the heartless wind.” The speaker feels powerful, swift, and utterly free. Yet twice the poem returns to the same quiet detail—the pines on the mountain crest calling, “Rest, rest.” Those whispered words change the mood. Under the boasting lies a pull toward stillness and peace that the cloud cannot reach. The result is restless longing: freedom sounds exhilarating but also lonely, and the question “why do the pines… call to me?” suggests the cloud does not quite understand its own ache.
The Cloud — Summary
I AM a cloud in the heaven's height, The stars are lit for my delight, Tireless and changeful, swift and free, I cast my shadow on hill and sea-- But why do the pines on the mountain's crest Call to me always, "Rest, rest"?
I throw my mantle over the moon And I blind the sun on his throne at noon, Nothing can tame me, nothing can bind, I am a child of the heartless wind-- But oh the pines on the mountain's crest Whispering always, "Rest, rest."