Stars of the Desert/The purple dusk
The Purple Dusk
Since the white day must dawn again so soon,
And early love is diffident and shy,
Oh, charitable clouds conceal the moon
Grant the indulgence of an unstarred sky!
Ah, silver surf, abreak along the shore,
Cease for awhile thy restless ebb and flow.
The silence trembles with thy sullen roar
And the soft voice I love is very low.
Wind of the Desert, leave the Orange flowers
To spill their sweetness over sand and sea,
Come, all unperfumed, to this couch of ours;
Blow through his curls and bring their scent to me.
Ah, Time, who brought this treasure to my breast,
Knowing so well that cruelty of thine,
I would die now, and leave thee at thy best,
Ere thou hast torn my lover's lips from mine.