 | The Cup of Quietness |  |
20
A SUNSET
The day goes down
In unfamiliar state; the distant town
Dissolveth to a dream
Of golden domes and silver spires;
The sea becomes a lake of leaping fires,
The shore one gleam
Of liquid glory; veiled with crimson spray,
The solid headlands seem
Jewels alive with lights that pulse and play;
Till purple gloom engulfs the sun's last beam;
So dieth day.
In unfamiliar state; the distant town
Dissolveth to a dream
Of golden domes and silver spires;
The sea becomes a lake of leaping fires,
The shore one gleam
Of liquid glory; veiled with crimson spray,
The solid headlands seem
Jewels alive with lights that pulse and play;
Till purple gloom engulfs the sun's last beam;
So dieth day.
When love declines
On death's horizon-bound, the world's harsh lines
Relent; hope fading flings
Her farewell splendour as a pall
O'er life's storm-worn, forsaken strand; then all
Familiar things
Look strange; wild lights o'er memory's ocean move,
And mystic glimmerings;
The past assumes the colours of the dove,
Till all grows dim, and darkness spreads her wings;
So dieth love.
On death's horizon-bound, the world's harsh lines
Relent; hope fading flings
Her farewell splendour as a pall
O'er life's storm-worn, forsaken strand; then all
Familiar things
21
And mystic glimmerings;
The past assumes the colours of the dove,
Till all grows dim, and darkness spreads her wings;
So dieth love.
| The Cup of Quietness | |