Brotherhood

Twilight, a blossom grey in shadowy valleys dwells:     Under the radiant dark the deep blue-tinted bells     In quietness remage heaven within their blooms,     Sapphire and gold and mystery. What strange perfumes,     Out of what deeps arising, all the flower-bells fling,     Unknowing the enchanted odorous song they sing!     Oh, never was an eve so living yet: the wood     Stirs not but breathes enraptured quietide.     Here in these shades the Ancient knows itself, the Soul,     And out of slumber waking starts unto the goal.     What bright companions nod and go along with it!     Out of the teeming dark what dusky creatures flit,     That through the long leagues of the island night above     Come by me, wandering, whispering, beseeching love;     As in the twilight children gather close and press     Nigh and more nigh with shadowy tenderness,     Feeling they know not what, with noiseless footsteps glide     Seeking familiar lips or hearts to dream beside.     O voices, I would go with you, with you, away,     Facing once more the radiant gateways of the day;     With you, with you, what memories arise, and nigh     Trampling the crowded figures of the dawn go by,     Dread deities, the giant powers that warred on men     Grow tender brothers and gay children once again;     Fades every hate away before the Mother's breast     Where all the exiles of the heart return to rest.