MOONLIGHT.
23
Shade without end, that no expectance knows
Of beamy Morning to the lapse of time.
So men have thought; whose thinking is held wise:
May God avert this prophecy from truth!
Of beamy Morning to the lapse of time.
So men have thought; whose thinking is held wise:
May God avert this prophecy from truth!
Tell me, O Muse, beneath this silent Moon,
This Moon, that now beguiles us, as we sit,
While to our wakeful ear sweet Philomel
From out the lower woods is chanting now,
Tell me what cause, that in this later age,
Wherein by fortune we are placed here,
The souls of men, beneath this equal sky,
Should thus be spoil'd of their inheritance?
Are not the Seasons lovely, as before?
Do not the glancing lights of Heav'n persuade
With eloquence, as when of old they beam'd
On those wise heads, that now in marble rest?
Witness, O Moon, the fair and primal light,
That on the forehead of sweet Ev'ning burns,
And lights the midnight with a lamp of love,
(That now hast call'd me from my sleepy bed,
This Moon, that now beguiles us, as we sit,
While to our wakeful ear sweet Philomel
From out the lower woods is chanting now,
Tell me what cause, that in this later age,
Wherein by fortune we are placed here,
The souls of men, beneath this equal sky,
Should thus be spoil'd of their inheritance?
Are not the Seasons lovely, as before?
Do not the glancing lights of Heav'n persuade
With eloquence, as when of old they beam'd
On those wise heads, that now in marble rest?
Witness, O Moon, the fair and primal light,
That on the forehead of sweet Ev'ning burns,
And lights the midnight with a lamp of love,
(That now hast call'd me from my sleepy bed,
