AS if already pulsed in every part, The beating of the ardent sun's deep heart, The new Day waited on the verge of Dawn, And wide before her stretched a boundless sea, Fed from the fountains of Eternity. Far streamed her pennons, tinged with rosy light, Beyond the films of mist about her drawn. Behind her hovered still reluctant Night, A builder loath from labor to be gone. One only star in steadfast silence kept Its lover-vigil while the great world slept; Till sudden bird-songs swept the dusk like flame, And, launched on space, the bright creation came,— A Day from God for freight of smiles and tears, For childhood's joy, for dreams and hopes and fears. |