 | The Comrades |  |
181
Twilight Memories
I heard at twilight on the bridge
The plover's melancholy cry;
The moorland reared a sullen ridge
Against the amber evening sky.
The plover's melancholy cry;
The moorland reared a sullen ridge
Against the amber evening sky.
No farm-light cheered the deepening grey
Of those vast sweeps of heath and stone;
The sky seemed far—so far away;
My heart felt utterly alone.
Of those vast sweeps of heath and stone;
The sky seemed far—so far away;
My heart felt utterly alone.
And as when summer rain is done
A shower is shaken by a gust
From some sad tree, although the sun
Has long since dried the ground to dust,
A shower is shaken by a gust
From some sad tree, although the sun
Has long since dried the ground to dust,
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Even so within my mournful mind
I felt my manhood's greener years
Shaken by fitful gusts of wind,
Which filled my eyes with ancient tears.
I felt my manhood's greener years
Shaken by fitful gusts of wind,
Which filled my eyes with ancient tears.
And whilst in pleasant pain I wooed
Old dreams, lost hopes, vain yearnings back,
Two figures on the sky-line stood,
Clear cut from head to foot in black.
Old dreams, lost hopes, vain yearnings back,
Two figures on the sky-line stood,
Clear cut from head to foot in black.
Cut clear against the amber glow,
They stood together hand in hand—
A man and woman—did they know
How near to heaven they seemed to stand?
They stood together hand in hand—
A man and woman—did they know
How near to heaven they seemed to stand?
That dark ridge seemed the world's end; they
The last of lovers. Side by side
They gazed;—what radiant prospect lay
Beyond them, unto me denied?
The last of lovers. Side by side
They gazed;—what radiant prospect lay
Beyond them, unto me denied?
He draws her close; her arms are twined
About his neck!—Oh, happy years,
Now shaken by this woful wind
Which fills my eyes with ancient tears!
About his neck!—Oh, happy years,
Now shaken by this woful wind
Which fills my eyes with ancient tears!
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