I've never been content to sit

Beneath the flowered tree

To gaze upon the birds that flit

Like fairies past the sea.

For when I lay upon the grass

On evenings just like this

With stars that glint like melted glass

And honey on my lips—

I feel a strange enchantment grow

Like cobwebs, cool and sweet

That bids me fight the dusky glow

And struggle to my feet.

It whispers in my ear and I

Cannot but lift my head

It shines behind the curtained sky

And with a certain dread,

I rise to face the nectared night

Which seems with joy to weep

I taste ambrosia, clear and bright

As I am roused from sleep.

It seems most strange, the world I greet

My soul all raw and new

The wind that rustles through the wheat

Is drenched in starry blue.

And underneath, like rose and thorns

A thrill of light awakes

Once sheltered by a thousand morns

Adorned by woven lakes,

And then like magic bursting through

The rhythms of the night,

The gilded winds belace the dew

And set the world alight.

I glory in the twilight gleam

The gloaming silver moon

And with a sigh wake from a dream

To face the midnight noon.

Tomorrow life is close and small

Tomorrow life is cold

But now it seems to rise and fall

A beating heart of gold.