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Lyrics of Sunshine and Shadow/At Sunset Time

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4645534Lyrics of Sunshine and Shadow — At Sunset Time1905Paul Laurence Dunbar

AT SUNSET TIME

A DOWN the west a golden glowSinks burning in the sea,And all the dreams of long agoCome flooding back to me.The past has writ a story strangeUpon my aching heart,But time has wrought a subtle change,My wounds have ceased to smart.
No more the quick delight of youth,No more the sudden pain,I look no more for trust or truthWhere greed may compass gain.What, was it I who bared my heartThrough unrelenting years,And knew the sting of misery's dart,The tang of sorrow's tears?
'Tis better now, I do not weep,I do not laugh nor care;My soul and spirit half asleepDrift aimless everywhere.We float upon a sluggish stream,We ride no rapids mad,While life is all a tempered dreamAnd every joy half sad.