Falls on the darkening dial,
One by one kindle the lights
In Mitylene.

Noises are hushed in the courtyard, 5
The busy day is departing,
Children are called from their games,--
Herds from their grazing.

And from the deep-shadowed angles
Comes the soft murmur of lovers, 10
Then through the quiet of dusk
Bright sudden laughter.

From the hushed street, through the portal,
Where soon my lover will enter,
Comes the pure strain of a flute 15
Tender with passion.




XXII


Once you lay upon my bosom,
While the long blue-silver moonlight
Walked the plain, with that pure passion
All your own.