An Evening

Dora Wilcox 1873 (Christchurch) – 1953 (Neutral Bay)



TO break the stillness of the hour  
 There is no sound, no voice, no stir;  
 Only the croak of frogs,—the whirr  
Of crickets hidden in leaf and flower.  
 
The clear-cut outlines of a spire          
 Spring from a mass of eucalypt  
 Sharply against the sky,—still tipped  
With one last gleam of lingering fire.  
 
So solemnly the shadows creep;  
 On dovelike wings Night flutters down;          
 Lights twinkle in the little town;  
The valley lies in quiet sleep.  
 
So comes the dark, so fades the light,  
 On all those leagues of tossing sea  
 That lie between my home and me,          
And glimmer to the stars all night.  
 
And so, belovèd, silently  
 In thine own land the shadows fall  
 On grassy lawn, and garden-wall,  
On shining sand, and troubled sea,—          
 
On paths thy feet shall never tread,—  
 On fields thine eyes shall never see,—  
 And on thy new home, strange to me,  
That silent City of the Dead!  
 
Yea, stillness rests, O Tried and True,          
 On hand and heart, on lips and eyes!  
 On thee eternal silence lies,  
On thee is utter darkness too.  
 
We lost too much in losing thee,  
 Yet we who knew and loved thee best,          
 Wish thee an everlasting rest,  
Night came on thee so quietly.  
 
Peace with the Shadows! Peace to all  
 Who work and weep, who pray and wait;  
 Till we and thou are one with Fate,          
And on us too, the Night shall fall!

Font size:
Collection  PDF     
 

Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:13 min read
84

Quick analysis:

Scheme AAAA XBBA CDDC BEEB EFFE BEEB XGGB EBBE FBBF
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 1,396
Words 244
Stanzas 9
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4

Dora Wilcox

Dora Wilcox, was a New Zealand and Australian poet and playwright. more…

All Dora Wilcox poems | Dora Wilcox Books

0 fans

Discuss the poem An Evening with the community...

0 Comments

    Translation

    Find a translation for this poem in other languages:

    Select another language:

    • - Select -
    • 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
    • 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
    • Español (Spanish)
    • Esperanto (Esperanto)
    • 日本語 (Japanese)
    • Português (Portuguese)
    • Deutsch (German)
    • العربية (Arabic)
    • Français (French)
    • Русский (Russian)
    • ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
    • 한국어 (Korean)
    • עברית (Hebrew)
    • Gaeilge (Irish)
    • Українська (Ukrainian)
    • اردو (Urdu)
    • Magyar (Hungarian)
    • मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
    • Indonesia (Indonesian)
    • Italiano (Italian)
    • தமிழ் (Tamil)
    • Türkçe (Turkish)
    • తెలుగు (Telugu)
    • ภาษาไทย (Thai)
    • Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
    • Čeština (Czech)
    • Polski (Polish)
    • Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
    • Românește (Romanian)
    • Nederlands (Dutch)
    • Ελληνικά (Greek)
    • Latinum (Latin)
    • Svenska (Swedish)
    • Dansk (Danish)
    • Suomi (Finnish)
    • فارسی (Persian)
    • ייִדיש (Yiddish)
    • հայերեն (Armenian)
    • Norsk (Norwegian)
    • English (English)

    Citation

    Use the citation below to add this poem to your bibliography:

    Style:MLAChicagoAPA

    "An Evening" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Mar. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/8098/an-evening>.

    Become a member!

    Join our community of poets and poetry lovers to share your work and offer feedback and encouragement to writers all over the world!

    March 2024

    Poetry Contest

    Join our monthly contest for an opportunity to win cash prizes and attain global acclaim for your talent.
    3
    days
    6
    hours
    16
    minutes

    Special Program

    Earn Rewards!

    Unlock exciting rewards such as a free mug and free contest pass by commenting on fellow members' poems today!

    Browse Poetry.com

    Quiz

    Are you a poetry master?

    »
    Who wrote the poem "There Will Come Soft Rain"?
    A Percy Bysshe Shelley
    B Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
    C Sara Teasdale
    D Rainer Maria Rilke