'TWAS summer eve; the changeful beams still play'd 
On the fir-bark and through the beechen shade; 
Still with soft crimson glow'd each floating cloud; 
Still the stream glitter'd where the willow bow'd; 
Still the pale moon sate silent and alone, 
Nor yet the stars had rallied round her throne; 
Those diamond courtiers, who, while yet the West 
Wears the red shield above his dying breast, 
Dare not assume the loss they all desire, 
Nor pay their homage to the fainter fire, 
But wait in trembling till the Sun's fair light 
Fading, shall leave them free to welcome Night! 

So when some Chief, whose name through realms afar 
Was still the watchword of succesful war, 
Met by the fatal hour which waits for all, 
Is, on the field he rallied, forced to fall, 
The conquerors pause to watch his parting breath, 
Awed by the terrors of that mighty death; 
Nor dare the meed of victory to claim, 
Nor lift the standard to a meaner name, 
Till every spark of soul hath ebb'd away, 
And leaves what was a hero, common clay. 

Oh! Twilight! Spirit that dost render birth 
To dim enchantments; melting Heaven with Earth, 
Leaving on craggy hills and rumning streams 
A softness like the atmosphere of dreams; 
Thy hour to all is welcome! Faint and sweet 
Thy light falls round the peasant's homeward feet, 
Who, slow returning from his task of toil, 
Sees the low sunset gild the cultured soil, 
And, tho' such radliance round him brightly glows, 
Marks the small spark his cottage window throws. 
Still as his heart forestals his weary pace, 
Fondly he dreams of each familiar face, 
Recalls the treasures of his narrow life, 
His rosy children, and his sunburnt wife, 

To whom his coming is the chief event 
Of simple days in cheerful labour spent. 
The rich man's chariot hath gone whirling past, 
And those poor cottagers have only cast 
One careless glance on all that show of pride, 
Then to their tasks turn'd quietly aside; 
But him they wait for, him they welcome home, 
Fond sentinels look forth to see him come; 
The fagot sent for when the fire grew dim, 
The frugal meal prepared, are all for him; 
For him the watching of that sturdy boy, 
For him those smiles of tenderness and joy, 
For him,--who plods his sauntering way along, 
Whistling the fragment of some village song! 

Dear art thou to the lover, thou sweet light, 
Fair fleeting sister of the mournful night! 
As in impatient hope he stands apart, 
Companion'd only by his beating heart, 
And with an eager fancy oft beholds 
The vision of a white robe's fluttering folds 
Flit through the grove, and gain the open mead, 
True to the hour by loving hearts agreed! 

At length she comes. The evening's holy grace 
Mellows the glory of her radiant face; 
The curtain of that daylight faint and pale 
Hangs round her like the shrouding of a veil; 
As, turning with a bashful timid thought, 
From the dear welcome she herself hath sought, 
Her shadowy profile drawn against the sky 
Cheats, while it charms, his fond adoring eye. 

Oh! dear to him, to all, since first the flowers 
Of happy Eden's consecrated bowers 
Heard the low breeze along the branches play, 
And God's voice bless the cool hour of the day. 
For though that glorious Paradise be lost, 
Though earth by blighting storms be roughly cross'd, 
Though the long curse demands the tax of sin, 
And the day's sorrows with the day begin, 
That hour, once sacred to God's presence, still 
Keeps itself calmer from the touch of ill, 
The holiest hour of earth. Then toil doth cease-- 
Then from the yoke the oxen find release 
Then man rests pausing from his many cares, 
And the world teems with children's sunset prayers! 

Then innocent things seek out their natural rest, 
The babe sinks slumbering on its mother's breast; 
The birds beneath their leafy covering creep, 
Yea, even the flowers fold up their buds in sleep; 
And angels, floating by, on radiant wings, 
Hear the low sounds the breeze of evening brings, 
Catch the sweet incense as it floats along, 
The infant's prayer, the mother's cradle-song, 
And bear the holy gifts to worlds afar, 
As thigs too sacred for this fallen star. 

At such an hour, on such a summer night, 
Silent and calm in its transparent light, 
A widow'd parent watch'd her slumbering child, 
On whose young face the sixteenth summer smiled. 
Fair was the face she watch'd! Nor less, because 
Beauty's perfection seem'd to make a pause, 
And wait, on that smooth brow, some further touch, 
Some spell from Time,--the great magician,--such 
As calls the closed bud out of hidden gloom, 
And bids it wake to glory, light, and bloom. 
Girlish as yet, but with the gentle grace 
Of a young fawn in its low