Like miraculous shining electrum This wide amber light. As a lyre that is plucked by a plectrum The wind in the firs on the height, The wind with its resonant breath! And the shrillness of birds, as we hear it Caught forth from this stillness like death, Amazes and dazes the spirit! Does a murdered man drift in the marshes With wide, staring eyes? For his blood stains the tules; and harsh is The voice of his vengeance that cries Through those streaked reds swift-shimmering to bronze, As the tule-reeds rustle and shiver Where the tall eucalyptus responds Red and silver, agleam o'er the river. Then the west dulls to lead, and a sally Of blackbirds goes by Whistling far o'er the mist-brimming valley, Sombre streamers that fade on the sky Through the duskiness shredding away; And the night a black panther comes leaping From the hills that are over the bay, From his lair to the homes of the sleeping. For the night seems a beast sudden-savage, A terror to men, A stealthy beast stalking to ravage; And we long for the firelight again And the mingling of voices grown dear. For vast Voices are vibrant around us. Pointing sharp to our shadowy sphere, See! A thousand star-fingers have found us! Then the moon like a delicate carvel With shrouds of bright gauze Mounts from silver cloud surf. At the marvel Our hearts throb with prescience—and pause. Distant planets crowd close. Through a mist, From blue night's holy eileton lifting, Some ineffable far eucharist Hushes heaven, whence radiance is drifting! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...SHE HEARS THE STORM by THOMAS HARDY THE SONG OF HIAWATHA: HIAWATHA'S DEPARTURE by HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW ANTIQUE JEWELER by FREDERICK HENRY HERBERT ADLER ODES: BOOK 1: ODE 4. AFFECTED INDIFFERENCE by MARK AKENSIDE A QUESTION by JOHANNA AMBROSIUS |