Ode to the Moon
There is a blessing in the air, a calm
That soothes the mind to bear thy gentle balm:
O, Moon! How becoming the hush of night,
Thy frosty aura, shining a pale light
To lead the lost and weary back to their rest.
When I first glimpse your glow, along my breast
I feel peace; such that, unannounced to me,
A new hope takes wing: immortal Beauty,
In your eternal presence; like a dream
Of everlasting love caught in thy gleam.
How many secret paths for the eloped
Have you lit, once they steal away, and hoped
The creaking bark, wading across the lake,
Would find the hidden place for their Love’s sake,
As water sparkles silently by night?
After a time, I feel an aching slight,
For I gaze upon your splendor, alone,
Yearning after a warm vision, and moan.
When Romeo, to spy Love, hid in a hedge,
This same light gilded that balcony’s edge
Where Juliet, aglow within moonbeams,
Bodied the same spirit that charm’d his daydreams,
And utter’d delicious sigh of a thought serene.
My aching heart, from my eye, is now keen
To watch as Heaven slowly lifts the veil
Of mystery; to tell an endless tale
Of steadfast stars who twinkle when they wink
For dreams that live beyond the crescent’s brink;
Or the unheard wind that blows through the reeds
On dark banks of thy milky pool, trimmed with weeds.
Thou cold sublime! Thou silver-spotted gem!
From worldly cares our minds you slowly hem,
And guide us onto realms that keep beyond
This common ground, this dirt we seem so fond
To perceive as the one, true existence.
Yet, a magic thread, weaved in experience,
Plucks itself, resounding to our memory
Distant tones of Immortality;
Lifting the Soul, once more, o’er Time and Space
To fly home, seeking thy celestial face.
