The Silken Tassel/The Inner Door
The Inner Door
I thought and thought of thee: the day-long hours
Crept slowly to the gathering evening’s glow;
And Venus with her child-star, like lost powers,
The twilight-blooming West repair’d below.
Crept slowly to the gathering evening’s glow;
And Venus with her child-star, like lost powers,
The twilight-blooming West repair’d below.
I gazed and gazed through all the skiey deep
Till Night before me stood a growing gleam;
And, though the sky was moonless, still my sleep
Was there illumined by a dawning dream.
Till Night before me stood a growing gleam;
And, though the sky was moonless, still my sleep
Was there illumined by a dawning dream.
As though the soulward door of my dull sight
Were open’d by a passing angel’s hand,
I saw thy soothing face before me stand
Were open’d by a passing angel’s hand,
I saw thy soothing face before me stand
Wafted on Love’s all-spanning dream-lit flight,
And found in pride I loved thee not in vain,
Till pitiless Morn that door closed once again!
And found in pride I loved thee not in vain,
Till pitiless Morn that door closed once again!