 | The Poems of A. C. Benson |  |
276
PEACE
Linger, O rapturous hour,
Before the sunlight die,
Before the flying shower
Sweep from the west, and scour
The patient, tearful sky.
Before the sunlight die,
Before the flying shower
Sweep from the west, and scour
The patient, tearful sky.
The world's at rest, with will
And leisure to be fair;
The trees are golden still,
Despite the ascetic thrill
Of winter in the air.
And leisure to be fair;
The trees are golden still,
Despite the ascetic thrill
Of winter in the air.
Why are these moments few
On the unhappy earth,
When skies and friends are true,
And hearts are born anew
In some redeeming birth?
On the unhappy earth,
When skies and friends are true,
And hearts are born anew
In some redeeming birth?
The mood, the place, the friend,—
All these are mine to-day,
I feel your fancy bend
To mine, and softly blend
With all I dare not say.
All these are mine to-day,
I feel your fancy bend
To mine, and softly blend
With all I dare not say.
277
Sometimes my heart is high
But lonely, or my friend
Is merry when I sigh,
Or else the sullen sky
Is cloud from end to end.
But lonely, or my friend
Is merry when I sigh,
Or else the sullen sky
Is cloud from end to end.
Exultant and amazed,
I greet the kindling mood;
My hopes upheld and raised,
My soft suggestion praised,
My silence understood.
I greet the kindling mood;
My hopes upheld and raised,
My soft suggestion praised,
My silence understood.
The anxious question fails,
And hope, aloft the skies,
Her cloudy ladder scales,
And faith unreasoning veils
Her melancholy eyes.
And hope, aloft the skies,
Her cloudy ladder scales,
And faith unreasoning veils
Her melancholy eyes.
Stay, rapturous hour, and steep
My soul, till daylight fade;
Before the darkness leap
From tree to tree, and creep
With silent lapse of shade.
My soul, till daylight fade;
Before the darkness leap
From tree to tree, and creep
With silent lapse of shade.
| The Poems of A. C. Benson | |