Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, REST AT EVENTIDE, by THOMAS D'ARCY MCGEE


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

REST AT EVENTIDE, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Fold ye the ice-cold hands
Last Line: And sweet is the christian's rest.
Subject(s): Evening; Rest; Sunset; Twilight


FOLD ye the ice-cold hands
Calm on the pulseless breast;
The toil of the summer day is o'er,
Now cometh the evening rest;
And the folded hands have nobly wrought
Through noontide's din and strife,
And the dauntless heart hath bravely fought
In the ceaseless war of life.

Smooth ye the time-thinned hair
Still on the marble brow;
No earthly could doth linger there
To mar its beauty now.
But brow and lip and darkened eye
Bear a shade of deep repose,
As twilight shadows softly lie
On the wide-spread winter snows.

No voice of discord wakes
The silence still and deep,
And the far-off sounds of worldly strife
Cannot break the dreamless sleep.
Oh, welcome rest to a heart long tossed
On the tide of hopes and fears, --
To the feet that have wandered far and wide
O'er the weary waste of years.

From the gorgeous glare of day,
Welcome the gentle night,
Fading the tranquil lines away,
Solemn and calm and bright.
Then tenderly, tenderly fold the hands
In peace on the pulseless breast,
For the evening shadows come quickly on,
And sweet is the Christian's rest.





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