 | Poetical Works of Lionel Johnson |  |
VESPERS
Solemn, dark hills bastion pale,
Solemn reaches of calm lake:
And night is nearing.
Stilly-souled you speak not, steering
Our light vessel toward the vale,
Where the ripples break.
Solemn reaches of calm lake:
And night is nearing.
Stilly-souled you speak not, steering
Our light vessel toward the vale,
Where the ripples break.
See! the vesper light: the star
Softest-fired of stars. Heaven fills:
Soon all the starry
Lights will flood all visionary
Haunted valley glooms, that are
High among the hills.
Softest-fired of stars. Heaven fills:
Soon all the starry
Lights will flood all visionary
Haunted valley glooms, that are
High among the hills.
235
How the last cries fall away
From the far and resting fields,
And linger faintly
Through the woodland glades: how saintly
Shows the death of this fair day;
With what sad grace yields!
From the far and resting fields,
And linger faintly
Through the woodland glades: how saintly
Shows the death of this fair day;
With what sad grace yields!
Only down the shoreland wails
A lone plover: down the mere
Her way is winging
A white owl. Else were there clinging
Perfect silence round our sails,
As you sit and steer.
A lone plover: down the mere
Her way is winging
A white owl. Else were there clinging
Perfect silence round our sails,
As you sit and steer.
1888.
| Poetical Works of Lionel Johnson | |