She could not sleep . . . Wild-apple trees were stirring, Their tender buds aflutter with the breeze; Beyond the orchard phantom wings thrilled whirring; The pasture seemed alive with mysteries! Life pulsed through leaf and stem; faint perfumes strayed Up to her window, filled her with unrest; Afar, the eerie laughter of the loon Awoke a strange sweet madness in her breast . . . She wondered at the prim-walled garden, sprayed With silver glamour by the April moon . . . (How could she know that in the poplar clearing Gay goat-hoofs stamped weird rhythms of delight, A lyre throbbed its thratto-plat?) . . . So, fearing The chill (she thought), she shuttered out the night. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...STREET-CRIES: 2. THE SHIP OF EARTH by SIDNEY LANIER OF MY DEAR SON [GERVASE BEAUMONT] by JOHN BEAUMONT THE PASSIONATE SHEPHERD TO HIS LOVE by CHRISTOPHER MARLOWE HOPE AND FEAR by ALGERNON CHARLES SWINBURNE |