English Poetry III: From Tennyson to Whitman.
The Harvard Classics. 1909–14. |
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| 740. Margaritæ Sorori |
| | | William Ernest Henley (1849–1903) |
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| A LATE lark twitters from the quiet skies: | |
| And from the west, | |
| Where the sun, his day’s work ended, | |
| Lingers as in content, | |
| There falls on the old, gray city | 5 |
| An influence luminous and serene, | |
| A shining peace. | |
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| The smoke ascends | |
| In a rosy-and-golden haze. The spires | |
| Shine, and are changed. In the valley | 10 |
| Shadows rise. The lark sings on. The sun, | |
| Closing his benediction, | |
| Sinks, and the darkening air | |
| Thrills with a sense of the triumphing night— | |
| Night with her train of stars | 15 |
| And her great gift of sleep. | |
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| So be my passing! | |
| My task accomplished and the long day done, | |
| My wages taken, and in my heart | |
| Some late lark singing, | 20 |
| Let me be gathered to the quiet west, | |
| The sundown splendid and serene, | |
| Death. | |
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