I turn'd to you, the sky was amber gold,
Blue haze and flaming bracken stretched away
In undulating mystery to the day,
Reclining that the evening might behold
And hide her softly 'neath his starlit wings.
A trembling breeze caressed the nearer things
About us, pausing now and then to play
Within the tender shadows of your hair,
Across the sky, like darts flung high in air
A flight of swallows struck against the glow
An instant, ere they melted quite away,
Like thoughts consumed by passion, and the lay
Of home birds grew emotional and low.
My very soul came forth and sought your eyes,
But in their depth no raptured awe took birth,
You stood indifferent to the throb of earth,
You gazed unseeing at the burning skies,
And all it meant you could not realize !

* * * * *

A little shiver crept along my heart—
For you and I were strangers, far apart.