Rainbows (Custance)/April Twilight
April Twilight
The skies are grey, the streets are grey,Twilight walks softly through the streets,Against the golden veils of dayWith weary silver wings she beats.
So every amber veil is rentAnd standing here I watch the nightClose round the city like a tent,While all the lamps grow bright.
What strange mad things our fancies areWhen darkness spreads and life stands still,Each lamp-post with its yellow starIs like a monstrous daffodil.
My windows look across a Square,I see dark houses through a screen.Of slender branches, leafless, bare,Yet faintly flushed with green.
I see the strangers pass and pass,And some are grave, and some are gay,But all seem shadows in a glass;Not like the people of the day.
They walk between giant daffodils,How endlessly their footsteps beat,How languidly their laughter thrillsThe silence of the street.