When, lo ! the air grows clear, a soft fair sky
Shines overhead : sharp pain dissolves in peace ;
Beneath the silver archway quietly
We float away : all troublous visions cease.
By a strange sense of joy we are possessed,
Body and spirit soothed in perfect rest.
VIII. THE END OF THE SONG.
What dainty note of long-drawn melody
Athwart our dreamless sleep rings sweet and clear,
Till all the fumes of slumber are brushed by,
And with awakened consciousness we hear
The pipe of birds? Look forth! The sane, white day
Blesses the hilltops, and the sun is near.
All misty phantoms slowly roll away
With the night s vapors toward the western sky.
The Real enchants us, the fresh breath of hay
Blows toward us ; soft the meadow-grasses lie,
Bearded with dew ; the air is a caress ;
The sudden sun o’ertops the boundary
Of eastern hills, the morning joyousness
Thrills tingling through the frame; life’s pulse beats strong;
Night s fancies melt like dew. So ends the song !
