Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1874-10-03

Sink and eIude the sight.
For two alone. there in the hall,
Il spread the table round and small;
Upon the polished silver sbins
The evening lamps, but more divine
Pie light Of love shines overall:
OF love that saws not mine and thine.
But ours, for ours Is thine and mine.
They want no guests 70 come between
Their tender glsnces like a screen,
And tell them tales Of land and sea,
And whatsoever may betide
The great forgotten world outside;
They want no guests; they needs must be
Zach others own best company.
The picture fades; "a at q village fair
A shOwmsn's views dissolve INTO the air,
To reappear TRANSPORTED on the screen,
SO In my fancy this; and now once more
In part TRANSPORTED through the open door
Appears the self-same scene.
Seated see the two again,
But not alone; they entertain
A little angel unaware,
With face Is round as is the moon:
A royal guest with fiaxen hair,
Who, thTOned upon his lofty chair,
Drums on the table with his spoon,
Then drops II careless on the floor,
To grasp at things unseen before.
Are these celestial manners2 These
he ways that win, the arts that please?
All yes; consider well the guest.
And vhatsOe'er be does seems best;
he ruleth by the right divine
81 heeplessness, 90 lately born
In purple chambers Of the morn,
As sovereign over thee and thine.
he speaketh not, and yet there lies
A conversation in his eyes;
The golden silence Of the Greek,
The gravest wisdom of the wise,
Not spoken In language, but in looks
More legible than printed books,
as II be could but would not speak.
And TOW, monarch absolute,
Thy power Is put 10 proof for 10,
Restless, fathOmless and slow,
The nurse comes rustling like the sea,
And pushes back thy chair and thee,
And 50 good night to King Canute.
II.
AS one who walking in the forest sees
A lovely landscape through the parted trees,
. Then sees It not for bOughs that intervene,
or as we see the moon sometimes revealed
Through drifting clouds, and then again con-
So beheid the scene.
There are two guests at table now;
1he king, deposed, and older grown,
No longer occupies the throne
The crown Is on his sisters brow:
A princess from the Fairy Tales;
The very pattern girl OF girls,
AL covered and embOWeTed in cCrIs,
Rose tinted from the Isle OF Flowers
And sailing with soft silken sails
Prom far OF Dreamlaud into ours.
Above their bowls with rims Of blue
-Four azure eyes Of deeper hue
Are looking, dreamy with delight;
llDpiG as planets that emerge
Above the oceans rounded verge,
SOFT shining through the summer night,
Steadfast they gaze, yet nothing see
Beyond the horizon OF their bowls;
MOI care they for the world that rolls
With all lts freight Of troubled souls
Into the days that are 20 be.
Again The tossing bOugks shut out the scene.
AEain The drifting vsp0rs intervene,
And The moons pAliid disk = hidden quite;
And row 1 see the table wider grown,
As round pebble into water thrown
Blstes ring OF light.
see the table wider grown,
] see IL garlauded with guests.
As u fair ATiadne'S crown
out Of the SKY had fallen Gown:
MaICeDs within whose tender breasts
thousand restless hopes and fears
Eorth reaching to the coming years,
Elutter awhile, then gai1t lie,
Like umid birds that fain wOulddy
But DO not dare 10 leave their nests;
And youths, who in their strength elate
Challenge the van and front Of fate,
Eager as champions 70 be
In the divine knight errantry
OF youth, that travels sea and land
Seeking adventures, or pursues
Through cities and through solitudes
Ere4uented by the lyric Muse,
The phantom with the beckoning hand,
That stli slluTes ard stilI eludes,
- sweet illusions OF the brain!
- sudden thrills OF FIRE and frost
The world is bright while ye remain,
And dark and dead when We are lost!
VI.
The meadow brook, that seemeth 10 stand still.
Qu4ck ems lts current sS 10 nears the mill;
AND 30 the stream or Time. that lingereth
N level places, and 80 dull appears,
Runs with swifter current as II nears
HE gloomy mills OF Death.
ana now like the mzgician's SCROLL
hat in the owners keeping shrinks
NJ, mn every wish be speaks or thinks,
Jul the last wish consumes the whole
he table dvindles, and again
SEE the two alone remain.
1he crown Of stars II broken in parts:
its Jewels, Brighter than the day,
Have one by one been stolen away
10 shine IA other ZONES and hearts.
One AZ wanderer now afar
In CeyiOn or IN Zanzibar,
OrsUDny regions OF Cathsy;
And one i in the bOisterOus camp,
,9lid eiink OF arms and horses tramp,
And battles terrible array.
] see the patient mother read.
WIN aching heart, of wrecks that float
Disabled on those seas remote,
UT u some great, heroic ueed
IN battle Held, where thousands bleed
\ y lliI one hero into fame.
Anxious she bends her graceful head
Above those chronicles Of pain,
And trembles with secret dread
Lest there among the drowned or slain
She find the one beloved name.
After a day OF clovd and wind and rain
Sometimes the setting sun breaks out again
And toIching AL the darksome woods with
Hgnt,
Smiles on the fields, until they laugh and sing.
Then like ruby from the horizons ring
drops down into the night.
what see l nov? The night Il fair
Inc STORM OF grief, the clouds Of care,
1ne VINO, the rain, have passed away;
Inc Iamps are liz, the ores burn bright.
Inc mouse u full OF life aud light
IL e the Golden W Wedding dsy
The guests come thronging in onee rnora
Quick footsteps sound along the door.
The tTooping children crowd the "A,
And in snd out and everywhere
FLASHES along the corridor
The sunshine OF their golden hair
On the round table in the hall
Another Ariadne's Crown
Out Of the sky hsth fallen down;
More than one Monarch OF the Moon
Il drumming with his silver spoon;
The light Of love shines over all.
- fortunate, y happy dag!
The people stDg, the people say.
The ancient bridegroom and the bride,
SeIenely smiling on the scene.
bshold we'll pleased on every side
Their forms and features multiplied,
As the reflection OF light
BetSeen two barnished mirrors CLEANS
81 !. mps upon bridge at night
nm hi.