O THE long northern twilight between the day and the night,
When the heat and the weariness of the world are ended quite:
When the hills grow dim as dreams, and the crystal river seems
Like that River of Life from out the Throne where the bless?d walk in white.
O the weird northern twilight, which is neither night nor day,
When the amber wake of the long-set sun still marks his western way:
And but one great golden star in the deep blue east afar
Warns of sleep, and dark, and midnight–of oblivion and decay.
O the calm northern twilight, when labor is all done,
And the birds in drowsy twitter have dropped silent one by one:
And nothing stirs or sighs in mountains, waters, skies,–
Earth sleeps–but her heart waketh, till the rising of the sun.
O the sweet, sweet twilight, just before the time of rest,
When the black clouds are driven away, and the stormy winds suppressed:
And the dead day smiles so bright, filling earth and heaven with light,–
You would think ‘t was dawn come back again–but the light is in the west.
O the grand solemn twilight, spreading peace from pole to pole!–
Ere the rains sweep o’er the hillsides, and the waters rise and roll,
In the lull and the calm, come, O angel with the palm–
In the still norther twilight, Azrael, take my soul.
(Dinah Maria Mulock Craik)
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Based on Topics: Life Poems, World Poems, Night Poems, Light Poems, Time Poems, Soul Poems, Dreams Poems, Sleep Poems, Birds Poems, Labor PoemsBased on Keywords: azrael, waketh, norther, again-but, sleeps-but, long-set
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