I. THE winds blow up through the blooming vale, And sigh as they did of old; The clouds break over the trysting-place With a long, lithe lance of gold. The sun goes down, and the shadows grow, All under the trysting-tree; They flicker high and they flicker low And they seem to question me. II. The glimmering rays of the summer moon Glide down on the milk-white stream, And field and wood, in the dewy hush, Are dreaming a fairy dream. The cricket calls, with shrill, high fife, And the lonely whippoorwill Is breaking his heart with his old complaint, "I love her, I love her still!" III. Here, while I wait for the coming feet, I may at last recall Those who kept tryst in this sweet, green spot, And I knew and greeted all! O Royal Love, with his eyes of flame, And his kiss of poison wine, -- Once, treading the summer's rose-bowered path, I saw his sandals shine! IV. And Hope, with his vision fixed above, His eye like the evening star, Too joyous to heed the sigh I gave When I watched him from afar. And Youth, whose face I ne'er could see, Whose voice I ne'er forget, -- How oft hath Memory dreamed of him, Her eyes with longing wet! V. Cold are the dews, the night grows late, The stars are all aglow; The branches of the whispering tree Sway lightly to and fro. Love comes no more down the rose-bowered path, Hope and sweet Youth are flown; In silence I wait at the trysting-place Forgotten and left alone. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...FAUST: SCENE 1. PROLOGUE IN HEAVEN by JOHANN WOLFGANG VON GOETHE THE VICAR OF WAKEFIELD: SONG by OLIVER GOLDSMITH THE SELF-UNSEEING by THOMAS HARDY THE WOLF AND THE DOG by JEAN DE LA FONTAINE SPORTSMEN IN PARADISE by T. P. CAMERON WILSON |