1434. As the Day Breaks by Ernest McGaffey. Stedman, Edmund Clarence, ed. 1900. An American Anthology, 1787-1900

Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). An American Anthology, 1787–1900. 1900.

1434. As the Day Breaks

By Ernest McGaffey


I PRAY you, what ’s asleep?
The lily-pads, and riffles, and the reeds;
No longer inward do the waters creep,
No longer outwardly their force recedes,
And widowed Night, in blackness wide and deep,	5
Resumes her weeds.

I pray you, what ’s awake?
A host of stars, the long, long milky way
That stretches out, a glistening silver flake,
All glorious beneath the moon’s cold ray,	10
And myriad reflections on the lake
Where star-gleams lay.

I pray you, what ’s astir?
Why, naught but rustling leaves, dry, sere, and brown:
The East’s broad gates are yet a dusky blur,	15
And star-gems twinkle in fair Luna’s crown,
And minor chords of wailing winds that were
Die slowly down.

I pray you, what ’s o’clock?
Nay! who shall answer that but gray-stoled dawn?	20
See, how from out the shadows looms yon rock,
Like some great figure on a canvas drawn;
And heard you not the crowing of the cock?
The night is gone.