Two Twilights

<SPAN name="chap021"></SPAN> <h3> THE OLD CITY </h3> <p class="poem"> Ancient city, down thy street<br/> Minstrels make their music sweet;<br/> Sound of bells is on the air,<br/> Fountains sing in every square,<br/> Where, from dawn to shut of day,<br/> Maidens walk and children play;<br/> And at night, when all are gone,<br/> The waters in the dark sing on,<br/> Till the moonrise and the breeze<br/> Whiten the horse-chestnut trees.<br/> Cool thou liest, leisured, slow,<br/> On the plains of long ago,<br/> All unvexed of fretful trades<br/> Through thy rich and dim arcades,<br/> Overlooking lands below<br/> Terraced to thy green plateau.<br/></p> <p class="poem"> Dear old city, it is long<br/> Since I heard thy minstrels' song,<br/> Since I heard thy church-bells deep,<br/> Since I watched thy fountains leap.<br/> Yet, whichever way I turn,<br/> Still I see the sunset burn<br/> At the ending of the street,<br/> Where the chestnut branches meet;<br/> Where, between the gay bazaars,<br/> Maidens walk with eyes like stars,<br/> And the slippered merchants go<br/> On the pavements to and fro.<br/> Upland winds blow through my sleep,<br/> Moonrise glimmers, waters leap,<br/> Till, awaking, thou dost seem<br/> Like a city of a dream,&mdash;<br/> Like a city of the air,<br/> Builded high, aloof and fair,&mdash;<br/> Such as childhood used to know<br/> On the plains of long ago.<br/></p> <br/><br/><br/> <div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />