The Hope of the World and other poems by Charles Mackay |
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 | The Hope of the World and other poems |  |
106
NIGHT.
O Night and Silence, ye are wondrous strong.
—Byron.
—Byron.
'Tis sweet to roam alone
In some sequester'd wood,
When slumbering Echo hears no sound,
When Night and Silence spread around
A holy solitude;
When through the vales,
Capricious gales
Sweep fitfully along in melancholy mood.
In some sequester'd wood,
When slumbering Echo hears no sound,
When Night and Silence spread around
A holy solitude;
When through the vales,
Capricious gales
Sweep fitfully along in melancholy mood.
Oh! in that solemn hour,
When starry Night has flung
Her balmy mantle o'er the dale,
And when the love-lorn nightingale
Her last complaint has sung;
When all is still,
O'er grove and hill,
Oh! then the Spirit wakes, and Silence has a tongue!
When starry Night has flung
Her balmy mantle o'er the dale,
And when the love-lorn nightingale
Her last complaint has sung;
107
O'er grove and hill,
Oh! then the Spirit wakes, and Silence has a tongue!
Silence, on dusky wing,
Recals the dim years fled.
Before the pensive spirit, move
Visions of friendship and of love,
Thoughts of the peaceful dead,
Who, though they sleep
In darkness deep,
Lie not forgotten in their quiet bed.
Recals the dim years fled.
Before the pensive spirit, move
Visions of friendship and of love,
Thoughts of the peaceful dead,
Who, though they sleep
In darkness deep,
Lie not forgotten in their quiet bed.
Silence awakens Hope,
Crown'd with consoling light,
Who wipes away the tear of woe,
That Memory might have caused to flow,
And gladdens Sorrow's night;
Like a gay dream,
Her cheering beam
Dispels the gathering mist, and all again is bright.
Crown'd with consoling light,
Who wipes away the tear of woe,
That Memory might have caused to flow,
And gladdens Sorrow's night;
Like a gay dream,
Her cheering beam
Dispels the gathering mist, and all again is bright.
108
Silence is eloquent
In converse with the mind;
Beneath your beam, ye silent stars,
Fancy forgets life's petty jars,
And leaves dull earth behind;
With daring eye
It soars on high,
Flies o'er the boundless heaven and treads the stormy wind.
In converse with the mind;
Beneath your beam, ye silent stars,
Fancy forgets life's petty jars,
And leaves dull earth behind;
With daring eye
It soars on high,
Flies o'er the boundless heaven and treads the stormy wind.
| The Hope of the World and other poems | |