In the Cool of the Evening
In the cool of the evening, when the low sweet whispers waken,
When the labourers turn them homeward, and the weary have their will,
When the censers of the roses o’er the forest-aisles are shaken,
Is it but the wind that cometh o’er the far green hill?
For they say ’tis but the sunset winds that wander through the heather,
Rustle all the meadow-grass and bend the dewy fern;
They say ’tis but the winds that bow the reeds in prayer together,
And fill the shaken pools with fire along the shadowy burn.
In the beauty of the twilight, in the Garden that He loveth,
They have veiled His lovely vesture with the darkness of a name!
Thro’ His Garden, thro’ His Garden it is but the wind that moveth,
No more; but O the miracle, the miracle is the same!
In the cool of the evening, when the sky is an old story
Slowly dying, but remembered, ay, and loved with passion still,
Hush!... the fringes of His garment, in the fading golden glory,
Softly rustling as He cometh o’er the far green hill.
Alfred Noyes.
Footnotes
1. From Nixon-Roulet’s “Japanese Folk Stories and Fairy Tales.” Copyright, 1908, by American Book Company, Publishers.
2. From Beebe’s The Log of the Sun, by permission of Henry Holt Company.
3. From the Biographical Edition of the complete works of James Whitcomb Riley. Copyright, 1913. Used by special permission of the publishers, The Bobbs-Merrill Company.