TO break the stillness of the hour <br /> There is no sound, no voice, no stir; <br /> Only the croak of frogs,—the whirr <br />Of crickets hidden in leaf and flower. <br /> <br />The clear-cut outlines of a spire <br /> Spring from a mass of eucalypt <br /> Sharply against the sky,—still tipped <br />With one last gleam of lingering fire. <br /> <br />So solemnly the shadows creep; <br /> On dovelike wings Night flutters down; <br /> Lights twinkle in the little town; <br />The valley lies in quiet sleep. <br /> <br />So comes the dark, so fades the light, <br /> On all those leagues of tossing sea <br /> That lie between my home and me, <br />And glimmer to the stars all night. <br /> <br />And so, belovèd, silently <br /> In thine own land the shadows fall <br /> On grassy lawn, and garden-wall, <br />On shining sand, and troubled sea,— <br /> <br />On paths thy feet shall never tread,— <br /> On fields thine eyes shall never see,— <br /> And on thy new home, strange to me, <br />That silent City of the Dead! <br /> <br />Yea, stillness rests, O Tried and True, <br /> On hand and heart, on lips and eyes! <br /> On thee eternal silence lies, <br />On thee is utter darkness too. <br /> <br />We lost too much in losing thee, <br /> Yet we who knew and loved thee best, <br /> Wish thee an everlasting rest, <br />Night came on thee so quietly. <br /> <br />Peace with the Shadows! Peace to all <br /> Who work and weep, who pray and wait; <br /> Till we and thou are one with Fate, <br />And on us too, the Night shall fall!<br /><br />Dora Wilcox<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/an-evening-2/
