Page:A New Zealand verse (1906).pdf/100

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After Sunset.
Then lighting up a star she hung it high,For a pale corpse-light, in the fading sky,And as from out their lairs began to creepThe sombre shadows she went forth to weep;
And up and down the garden Earth she passed,And as she walked her tears fell thick and fast;And then returning with a solemn tread,She robed herself in mourning for the dead,And clothed in black, but crowned with jewels bright,Went forth to watch until the morning light.

William Jukes Steward.

XXXV.

After Sunset.

Over my head the skylark singeth, Though the sun hath set and the night draws nigh ;What is the message the sweet song bringeth? Is it a hint that a day gone by—Gone by—gone by—may return again,And the time of waiting go past like rain?
The lark still sings as he upward flieth Through the dusk-blue air, and the notes drop downTo the listening earth, and my heart that crieth For the breath of spring and the summer’s crown.Ah! crown of summer, dost hang as farAs over the skylark that lone white star?
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