Then And Now

Beneath her window in the fragrant night                          I half forget how truant years have flown                         Since I looked up to see her chamber-light,                          Or catch, perchance, her slender shadow thrown                         Upon the casement; but the nodding leaves                          Sweep lazily across the unlit pane,                         And to and fro beneath the shadowy eaves,                          Like restless birds, the breath of coming rain                         Creeps, lilac-laden, up the village street                          When all is still, as if the very trees                         Were listening for the coming of her feet                          That come no more; yet, lest I weep, the breeze                         Sings some forgotten song of those old years                         Until my heart grows far too glad for tears.