Page:Florence Earle Coates Poems 1898 43.jpg

 DAPHNIS

, Solitude! hail, maiden coy and sweet!

The vesper veil descends,—hail, nymph discreet!

We would awhile forget the din and roar

Of feverous life, contending evermore,—

Lead to thy hush’d retreat!

Where shall we find thee, who desire thee so?

Where midst the lengthening shadows dost thou go?

Where slumberest thou when stars the night adorn?

Where glide thy feet at morn?

Seek they that rugged promontory

Where Athos towers lone above the sea?

Stray they where 'gainst the mountains hoary

Axenos moaning beats incessantly?

Or all the day in some shy sylvan nook,

Where cowslips pale and daffadillies blow,

Tread they the mellow turf, or weedy brook

Whose wimpling waters prattle as they flow?

Goddess with breath of balm,

What dear contentments nestle in thy calm!

The leveret and the fawn pursue

Thy paths through coverts dim, the halcyon blue, 43