 | [Poems by Howells in] Poems of two friends |  |
104
EVENING VOICES.
Broken snatch of cow-boy's song,
Swelling high and sinking low,
Mingles, as he plods along,
With the lowing of his cow.
Swelling high and sinking low,
Mingles, as he plods along,
With the lowing of his cow.
Wagon rattling o'er the road,
(White top gleaming like a sail),
Wakes the echoes harsh and loud,
Of the dusk and distant vale.
(White top gleaming like a sail),
Wakes the echoes harsh and loud,
Of the dusk and distant vale.
On the night-air faintly swell,
From the whitely-peopled meads,
Silver sounds of lambkin's bell,
Singly tinkling while it feeds.
From the whitely-peopled meads,
Silver sounds of lambkin's bell,
Singly tinkling while it feeds.
On the listless winds that pass,
Insects fling their harmonies;
Crickets chirping in the grass,
Locusts trilling in the trees:
Insects fling their harmonies;
Crickets chirping in the grass,
Locusts trilling in the trees:
And like music of a Fay,
'Mong the maple's foliage hid,
Comes thy sad and changeless lay,
Melancholy Katy-did!—
'Mong the maple's foliage hid,
Comes thy sad and changeless lay,
Melancholy Katy-did!—
105
Comes the dull and sullen roar
Of the distant waterfall,
Where the swift waves foam and pour,
Wrapped in vapors like a pall.
Of the distant waterfall,
Where the swift waves foam and pour,
Wrapped in vapors like a pall.
Sweetly mingled, yet distinct,
Countless witching voices are;
Sweetly various, sweetly linked,
Trembling on the dewy air.
Countless witching voices are;
Sweetly various, sweetly linked,
Trembling on the dewy air.
| [Poems by Howells in] Poems of two friends | |