Poems (Trask)/One Night

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4478947Poems — One NightClara Augusta Jones Trask

ONE NIGHT.
I wandered down the moonlit woods
One calm October night,—
The very poplar-leaves hung still,
The zephyrs were so light.

The pink-tinged radiance of the sky,
Love-flushed the blazing stars,
Until my soul leaped up to break
These mortal prison bars.

The brook ran softly o'er the grass,
Impearling pebbles gray,—
The waterfall in fleecy clouds
Of mist dissolved away.

The air so calm, and cool, and clear,
I seemed to pierce the screen,
And look far up the ether voids
To heavenly pastures green.

The crimson maples cast their leaves
Low at my lingering feet,
And all the languorous atmosphere
With dying flowers was sweet.

Lone! but, oh, grand! these autumn woods!
Sad, cold and desolate!
The cast-off leaves and wan moonlight,
The brown earth tesselate.

Solemn and still,—my soul is awed!
Silence my spirit gives
For all this beauty! Here, O God,
Thy fullest presence lives!