The Night Wind

In summer's mellow midnight
A cloudless moon shone through
[The]1 open parlour window
And rose trees wet with dew

I sat in silent musing
The soft wind waved my hair
I told me heaven was glorious
And sleeping earth was fair

I needed not its breathing
To bring such thoughts to me
But still it whispered lowly
How dark the woods will be

The thick leaves in my murmur
Are rustling like a dream
And all their myriad voices
Instinct with spirit seem

I said go gently singer
Thy wooing voice is kind
But do not think its music
Has power to reach my mind

Play with the scented flower
The young tree's subtle bough
And leave my human feelings
In their own course to flow

The wanderer would not leave me
Its kiss grew warmer still
Oh come it sighed so sweetly
I'll win thee 'gainst thy will

Have we not been from childhood friends?
Have I not loved thee long?
As long as though has't loved the night
Whose silence wakes my song

And when thy heart is laid at rest
Beneath the church yard stone
I shall have time [no more]2 to mourn
And thou to be alone

Silent is the house
All are laid asleep
One alone looks out
O'er the snow wreaths deep

Watching every cloud
Dreading every breeze
That whirls the wildering drifts
And bends the groaning trees

Cheerful is the hearth
Soft the matted floor
Not one shivering gust
Creeps through pane and door

The little lamp burns straight
Its rays shoot strong and far
I trim it well to be
The wanderers guiding star

Frown my haughty sire
Chide my angry dame
Set your slaves to spy
Threaten me with shame

But neither sire nor dame
Nor prying serf shall know
What angel nightly tracks
That waste of winter snow

What I love shall come
Like visitant of air
Safe in secret power
From lurking human snare

Who loves me no word of mine
Shall o'er betray
Though for faith unstained
My life must forfeit pay

Burn then little lamp
Glimmer straight and clear
Hush a rusting wind stirs
Me thinks the air

He for whom I wait
Thus ever comes to me
Strange power I trust your might
Trust thou my constancy

The linnet in the rocky dells
The moor lark in the air
The bee among the heather bells
That hide [a]1 lady fair

The wild deer browse above her breast
The wild birds raise their brood
And they, her smiles of love caressed
Have left her solitude

I ween that when the graves dark wail
Did first her form retain
They thought their hearts could ne'er recall
The light of joy again

They thought the tide of grief would flow
Unchecked through future years
But where is all their anguish now
And where are all their tears?

Well let them fight for honours breath
Or pleasures shade pursue
The dweller in the land of death
Is changed and careless too

And, if their eyes should watch and weep
Till sorrows source were dry
She would not, in her tranquil sleep
Return a single sigh

Blow west-wind, by the lonely mound
And murmur summer streams
There is no need of other sound
To soothe [a]1 lady's dreams