Songs of Love and Rebellion/The ruined gate
THE RUINED GATE
The sunshine and the shadow lengthen with the dying day,
And, like a dream, the daylight vanishes from earth away.
The western sky is covered with a web of beauty spun
By fairy hands, and woven from the life-tide of the sun.
The stars come out and glow like diamonds on the robe of night,
And through the silence all the lost dreams softly take their flight.
The cares of life have vanished, and its tears have turned to dew,
And, once again, my soul is standing in love's garden-world with you.
I hear your lute-like laughter rippling, as in days of old;
Your dear lips whispering "the sweetest story ever told;"
I feel your soft hands resting in these empty hands of mine,
And dream that I am living in the days that were divine.
And then, the dream, like daylight, softly fades from earth away,
And you are gone, and gone the stars, and gone the light of day.....
The pulse of passion beats against the iron bars of fate,
And hope with drooping pinions kneels before love's ruined gate.