Dawn and Dusk

SLENDER strips of crimson sky
Near the dim horizon lie,
Shot across with golden bars
Reaching to the fading stars;
Soft the balmy west wind blows
Wide the portals of the rose ;
Smell of dewy pine and fir,
Lisping leaves and vines astir ;
On the borders of the dark
Gayly sings the meadow-lark,
Bidding all the birds assemble,—
Hark, the welkin seems to tremble!
Suddenly the sunny gleams
Break the poppy-fettered dreams,—
Dreams of Pan, with two feet cloven,
Piping to the nymph and faun,
Who, with wreaths of ivy woven,
Nimbly dance to greet the dawn.

Shifting shadows indistinct,
Leaves and branches crossed and linked,
Cling like children, and embrace,
Frightened at the moon’s pale face.
In the gloomy wood begins
Noise of insect violins ;
Swarms of fireflies flash their lamps
In their atmospheric camps,
And the sad-voiced whip-poor-will
Echoes back from hill to hill,
Liquid clear above the crickets
Chirping in the thorny thickets.
Weary eyelids, eyes that weep,
Wait the magic touch of sleep ;
While the dew, in silence falling,
Fills the air with scent of musk,
And this lonely night-bird, calling,
Drops a note down through the dusk.