Poems (Acton)/The Day and Night of the Heart

THE DAY AND NIGHT OF THE HEART. (Words for Music.) ——

The human heart is as the Day;
 At its first dawn how bright,
Wrapped in a holy peacefulness
 That bodeth not of Night.

Oh! it is happier at that hour,
 'Mid its early hopes and fears,
When the beam of mirth can sweep away
 The traces of its tears.

And it i1s ever left to us,
 Our heart's first dawn to keep,
Ne'er in the evening of our life
 In penitence to weep.

It is for us to choose between
 A fierce and gentler light;
One which will deepen at the last,
 The other fade to Night.
R. A.