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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

LYRIC by WILLIAM STANLEY BRAITHWAITE

First Line: WHEN THE STILL, SOMBRE EVENING CLOSES DOWN
Last Line: A UNION THROUGH THE YEARS.
Subject(s): AUTUMN; MEMORY; FALL;
WHEN the still, sombre evening closes down
Amid the autumn preludes of the wood,
I feel my soul take on its dreamy mood
'Midst nature's gold and brown.
The dear old dreams of June -- blue-bird and rose
Have sunk into these sadder phantasies,
And once again old buried memories
Wake from their long repose.
Ah, when I look on Hesper clear and bright,
The thought of one dear autumn, sad and cool,
Transports me to a bygone forest pool
One long gone autumn night.
Now that my vision brightens, memory brings
That forest opening- sere leaves, the sheen
Of moonlight which soft stole the leaves be-tween
In their down flutterings.
How solemn was the scene- that solitude!
Those fulgent woods our holy marriage house
Where Zephyrus sang his choral through the boughs
To bless us where we stood.
Ah, memory! dear conjurer of tears!
Bring vividly the vision of that night,
When our two hearts pledged by kind nature's rite
A union through the years.



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