AT sunset in the college close the light
Falls like a benediction softly down;
Here is a moving stillness in the air,
Quiet, as though the now deserted east
Had laid its empty hand upon the lawns
And hushed the world; from out the glowing west
The sunlight settles on each tender leaf,
And entering in the gentle, empty cells
Calls through the hollow tubes; down to the earth
Trembles the peaceful summons; and the grass
Drinks in the sunset light, except where lie
Dark traceries of black upon the green,
Left mourning for the sun the while the tree
Laughs with its selfish seizure of the light!
This is the life of peace; but on the sky
The city in the distance casts a light
Brilliant and false, electric, publishing
Confusion and false day, nature betrayed,
And all the dark disguises of the town;
The frantic strivings after more, that choke
The holy fact of life, which single here
Sits at the heart and bids the rest be still.