Poems (Terry, 1861)/Twilight

by Rose Terry Cooke

For works with similar titles, see Twilight.

TWILIGHT.

Alone I watch the setting sun
 Brighten the hill-tops in the west,
And clouds that on the swift winds run
 To gather splendour o'er his rest.

Oh! had I but those wings of air,
 Across the mountain heights to flee!
Thine eyes should lose their shade of care,
 Thy weary face grow bright for me.

Or could I capture sparks of fire,
 To do the message of my thought,
Their joyful speed no space should tire,
 Till love and light for thee they brought.

But darker, deeper, grows the night,
 And my sad thoughts more restless far;
I would I were a ray of light
 To greet thee from yon lonely star.

Dear star! watch gently from on high,
 What my frail vision cannot see;
A gentler and more powerful eye,
 Shines through thy tender gleam for me.

One heart, o'er mountains, through the night,
 Protects and loves, while I despair;
He turns the depths of gloom to light,
 And gives my wishes wings of prayer.