NIGHTFALL
THREE SONNETS
I. The Earth
Pale, patient, with her throbbing heart at rest,
Waiting with half-closed, half-expectant eyes,
Till slumber's lips shall cleave in pitying wise,
Full of sweet comfort, to her brows and breast,
She feels by one and one in the bright West
Fade the long trails of gold, and wavering shades
Leap from lone forests and forgotten glades,
And dance and shimmer at the moon's behest.
Waiting with half-closed, half-expectant eyes,
Till slumber's lips shall cleave in pitying wise,
Full of sweet comfort, to her brows and breast,
She feels by one and one in the bright West
Fade the long trails of gold, and wavering shades
Leap from lone forests and forgotten glades,
And dance and shimmer at the moon's behest.
What change is on the fields?—the old known land
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