Compassionately, tenderly, they throw Their rainbow veils about the homely town Until it smiles in startled beauty down Upon the hurrying footsteps of the night: All its fiery opal windows, All its restless ruby windows, All its twinkling topaz windows Bathed in light! They kiss the murky river lovingly Their rainbow ribbons stretching far away— A lingering echo of departing day, A lovely, haunting, almost magic sight: On the glittering, golden water, On the rippling, rosy water, On the sparkling, sapphire water Bathed in light! Oh, the joy of wakening a city Of dingy drab and leaden, homely grey To vivid color, as the winter day Runs swiftly into the soft arms of night: All the gayly beckoning byways, All the winding, friendly byways, All the broad and wandering highways, Bathed in light! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...PORTRAIT OF ONE DEAD by CONRAD AIKEN FOR REMEMBERING HOW TO LIVE WITHOUT YOU by JAMES GALVIN TO THE ROCK THAT WILL BE A CORNERSTONE OF THE HOUSE by ROBINSON JEFFERS A BIT OF SKY by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON THE AUDACIOUS by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON MOTHER NIGHT by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON |