Classic Poem

Sunrise and Sunset

SUNRISE .

F LAME-HEARTED lover of the Earth — great Sun!
Rise from thy purple couch; stretch forth thine arms
Through morning's parted curtains; let the charms
Of waiting love — which it were death to shun —
Persuade thy clasp. Now hath the Earth begun
To loose her robes of mist; with mock alarms
She yields her beauty, which love's longing warms,
Forestalling the embrace thy kiss hath won.

Arise, great god of light and life, arise,
Enfold the fond Earth in the deathless glowing
Of thy fierce love; bend from the shimmering skies
Which burn before thee in thine onward going
No cheer have we and not of thy bestowing;
Thou art the joy of all hope-lifted eyes.

SUNSET .

Within thy burning palace in the West
Thou art awhile withdrawn. Yet doth thy face
Look from the closing portal for a space
Back to the Earth, which thy dear love hath blessed;
While she with tears and soft sighs half-repressed
Beholds thee sinking in thy resting-place,
As with up-gathered folds of dewy lace
She hugs remembrance to her yearning breast.

Thy glory darkens, and the careful Night
Hangs out the moon's pale lamp while yet the flush
On Evening's face — with thy departing light —
Turns from rose-pink to crimson, till the blush
Dies with the coming stars, and slumber's hush
Wraps thy warm bride, who waits thy waking might.English