Poems (Edwards)/The Voice of Evening Hours

by Matilda Caroline Smiley Edwards

THE VOICE OF EVENING HOURS.

We come, we come with our dreamy eyes,
With our solemn step and our muffled sighs,
And our gentle songs, to bid you cease
From the toils of day, and whisper peace
To the troubled hearts that have throbbed all day,
As if they were throbbing themselves away.

We bring the clouds to the western sky,
And we tinge them o'er with the sunset dye;
We spread a mist over the earth around,
And we hush the echo of every sound;
Save the night-bird's song, and the murmuring rill,
And the wind spirits, calling from hill to hill.

We come, and we bring to the solemn wood
A holier shadow of solitude;
We spread over the valleys a deeper shade,
And the leafy isle, and the flowery glade
Are gemmed with drops of the pearly dew
That softly fall from yon world of blue.

We come, and we bring to the weary rest,
We bring a balm to the suffering breast,
We bring a joy to the bleeding heart,
We come, and the cares of day depart,
As we bathe ourselves in the moonbeams pale
And shroud the earth in a misty veil.

We come, we come, we have chased away
The last faint gleam of departing day,
We have tenderly closed the eyes that weep,
We have folded the flowerets up to sleep;
With a wreath of stars we have crowned the night,
And the earth is bathed in their silvery light,
Till the things below and the things above
Seem touched with hues from the throne of love.