Poems (Jewett)/A Greeting

For works with similar titles, see A Greeting.

A GREETING

MY day was sordid and perplexed,
Close circled by the commonplace;
And late I walked with spirit vexed,
 And sense of self-disgrace;
For life and I were out of tune;
 I did not see the rose-like flush;
 I did not feel the kindly hush
Of waning afternoon.

Its glory all around me lay,
 While yet I paced in discontent;
When, suddenly, from far away,
 A quivering flash was sent;
It thrilled my heart, it stayed my feet,
 A beacon sure and glad it shone,
 The last red gleam of day upon
Your westward window, Sweet.

And straight I knew the world was fair;
 I heard a robin's prophet song;
I drank the bright wine of the air;
 My pulse grew quick and strong;
Not wasted seemed the day's work done;
 Not hopeless seemed the thing I sought;
 The far-off heights of toil and thought
Seemed worthy to be won.