 | The silver bridge and other poems |  |
72
AFTER THE STORM.
The vexed and threatening sky grew calm,
By evening's mild approach consoled—
Remote in its dissolving cloud,
The thunder farther, faintlier rolled,
And sunset's sudden alchemy changed all the leaden west to gold.
By evening's mild approach consoled—
Remote in its dissolving cloud,
The thunder farther, faintlier rolled,
And sunset's sudden alchemy changed all the leaden west to gold.
The splendor softened into peace,
The warm hues paled in slow decline,
Yet still the waters of the bay
Lay golden-bright as amber wine,
While red infrequent lightnings winked along the low horizon line.
The warm hues paled in slow decline,
Yet still the waters of the bay
Lay golden-bright as amber wine,
While red infrequent lightnings winked along the low horizon line.
Lightly between the sky and wave,
A cradling boat swung soft and slow;
Rapt and removed from all the world,
Two faces caught the heavenly glow,
And two wide-wandering souls regained the Eden lost so long ago.
A cradling boat swung soft and slow;
Rapt and removed from all the world,
Two faces caught the heavenly glow,
And two wide-wandering souls regained the Eden lost so long ago.
73
The faint breeze slumbered on the deep—
The few stars trembled in the blue—
A sacred hush held wave and air,
As though all loving nature knew
That eyes and hearts and lips at last were utterly and only true.
The few stars trembled in the blue—
A sacred hush held wave and air,
As though all loving nature knew
That eyes and hearts and lips at last were utterly and only true.
What eloquence of happy speech,
What art of story or of song,
Can reach the bliss of that sweet hour
When, chastened by denial long,
Love's everlasting patience reaps divine reward for years of wrong?
What art of story or of song,
Can reach the bliss of that sweet hour
When, chastened by denial long,
Love's everlasting patience reaps divine reward for years of wrong?
A tender dawning warmed the east—
The boat came softly to the shore—
Labor and care and tumult claimed
Those hushed, transfigured souls once more,
But nothing in those mingled lives could be again as heretofore.
The boat came softly to the shore—
Labor and care and tumult claimed
Those hushed, transfigured souls once more,
But nothing in those mingled lives could be again as heretofore.
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