Twilight Voices

What are the whispering voices
That awake at twilight fall ?
Do they come from the golden sunset
With their haunting, haunting call ?
They tell me of breezy spring-times,
And of dreamy summer eves,
And of snow-wreaths merrily shaken
From the shining ivy leaves.

But the far-off treble changeth
To a tenor tone, and so
I know that the voices tell me
Only of long ago.
I hear you, I hear you,
In the gentle twilight fall
Come to me, come !
With your haunting, haunting call.

What are the tuneful voices
That awake at early dawn ?
Do they come from the orient portals
Of the palace of the morn ?
They tell of a Golden City
With pearl and jasper bright,
And of shining forms that beckon
From the pure and dazzling light.

Then a rush of far-off harpings
Blends with the voices clear,
And I know that the night is passing,
And I know that the day is near !
I hear you, I hear you,
Sweet voices of the dawn !
Come to me, come !
In the early, early mom.

HYMNS.