Page:The poems of Richard Watson Gilder, Gilder, 1908.djvu/174

146 And I see, with a glad surprise,

A mist with a core of light.

Slowly, as grows the night,—

As the sky turns blue from gray,—

Slowly it beams more bright,

And keeps with me on my way.

Soul of the twilight star

That leads me from afar,

Spirit that keener glows

As the daylight darker grows;

That leaps the chasm of blue

Where the cross-street thunders through,

And follows o'er roof and spire,

In the night-time soaring higher;

I know thee, and only I,

Thou comrade of the sky—

Star of the poet's heart,

The light and soul of his art.

MOONLIGHT

I

twelve o' the clock.

The town is still;

As gray as a rock

From gable to sill

Each cottage is standing.

The narrow street

(Where the tree-tops meet),

From the woods to the landing,

Is black with shadows;

The roofs are white,

And white are the meadows;

The harbor is bright.

Can this be night?