Page:The Carcanet.djvu/66

So through the livelong night they held their way,
And 'twas a night might shame the fairest day,
So still, so bright, so tranquil was its reign,
They car'd not though the day ne'er came again.
The moon high wheel'd the distant hills above,
Silver'd the fleecy foliage of the grove,
That as the wooing zephyrs on it fell,
Whisper'd it lov'd the gentle visit well —
That fair-fac'd orb alone to move appear'd,
That zephyr was the only sound they heard,
In such a scene the soul oft walks abroad,
For silence is the energy of God!
Not in the blackest tempest's midnight scowl,
The earthquake's rocking, or the whirlwind's howl
Not from the crashing thunder-rifted cloud,
Does his immortal mandate speak so loud
As when the silent night around her throws
Her star-bespangled mantle of repose.
Thunder and whirlwind, and the earth's dread shake,
The selfish thoughts of man alone awake;
His lips may prate of Heaven, but all his fears
Are for himself, though pious he appears.
But when all Nature sleeps in tranquil smiles,
What sweet yet lofty thought the soul beguiles !
There's not an object 'neath the moon's bright beam,
There's not a shadow dark'ning on the stream,
There's not a star that jewels yonder skies,
Whose bright reflection on the water lies,
That does not in the lifted mind awake
Thoughts that of love and heaven alike partake;