Two Twilights

<SPAN name="chap014"></SPAN> <h3> WATER LILIES AT SUNSET </h3> <p class="poem"> Mine eyes have seen when once at sunset hour<br/> White lily flocks that edged a lonely lake<br/> All rose and sank upon the lifting swell<br/> That swayed their long stems lazily, and lapped<br/> Their floating pads and stirred among the leaves.<br/> And when the sun from western gates of day<br/> Poured colored flames, they, kissed to ruddy shame,<br/> So blushed through snowy petals, that they glowed<br/> Like roses morning-blown in dewy bowers,<br/> When garden-walks lie dark with early shade.<br/> That so their perfumed chalices were brimmed<br/> With liquid glory till they overflowed<br/> And spilled rich lights and purple shadows out,<br/> That splashed the pool with gold, and stained its waves<br/> In tints of violet and ruby blooms.<br/> But when the flashing gem that lit the day<br/> Dropped in its far blue casket of the hills,<br/> The rainbow paintings faded from the mere,<br/> The wine-dark shades grew black, the gilding dimmed,<br/> While, paling slow through tender amber hues,<br/> The crimsoned lilies blanched to coldest white,<br/> And wanly shivered in the evening breeze.<br/> When twilight closed&mdash;when earliest dew-drops fell<br/> All frosty-chill deep down their golden hearts,<br/> They shrank at that still touch, as maidens shrink,<br/> When love's first footstep frights with sweet alarms<br/> The untrod wildness of their virgin breasts;<br/> Then shut their ivory cups, and dipping low<br/> Their folded beauties in the gloomy wave,<br/> They nodded drowsily and heaved in sleep.<br/> But sweeter far than summer dreams at dawn,<br/> Their mingled breaths from out the darkness stole,<br/> Across the silent lake, the winding shores,<br/> The shadowy hills that rose in lawny slopes,<br/> The marsh among whose reeds the wild fowl screamed,<br/> And dusky woodlands where the night came down.<br/></p> <br/><br/><br/> <div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />