 | Songs of Doubt and Dream (Poems) |  |
239
[XVI. An old man mused, amid twilight's haze]
An old man mused, amid twilight's haze,
While he watched a fading fire alone,
Which day of his long life's many days
Could be named the fairest he had known.
While he watched a fading fire alone,
Which day of his long life's many days
Could be named the fairest he had known.
Then out from his memory voices broke,
And all were of days now past and dead;
He smiled at forgotten dreams they woke
In the low mellifluous words they said.
And all were of days now past and dead;
He smiled at forgotten dreams they woke
In the low mellifluous words they said.
Of the grand Swiss mountains' power and peace,
Of the Orient's lazy and splendid spell,
Of noons in Venice, of morns in Greece,
Each day for its own sake pleaded well.
Of the Orient's lazy and splendid spell,
Of noons in Venice, of morns in Greece,
Each day for its own sake pleaded well.
But when all the magic murmurs died
Where his chamber drowsed in the spent logs' light,
“I was dim and cheerless,” a new Day sighed,
“I was chill with blast, I was bleak with blight,
Where his chamber drowsed in the spent logs' light,
“I was dim and cheerless,” a new Day sighed,
“I was chill with blast, I was bleak with blight,
“Yet I gave you that first warm poignant thrill
When your first last love in your fond arms lay”...
“'Tis enough!” cried the old man. “Bleak and chill,
You of all my days were the fairest day!”
When your first last love in your fond arms lay”...
240
You of all my days were the fairest day!”
| Songs of Doubt and Dream (Poems) | |