The Convent of Siang-Fu

So I sprang to horse at cockcrow all a fever to depart,
Galloped, galloped to the convent, ere the calling bells were still,
Over dimpled lawns a zephyr woke the lily's jewelled heart,
And the moon's faint crescent faltered down the cleft of wooded hill.

Oh the lonely little convent with its secret haunts of prayer!
With its shadowed cells for dreaming, where eternities abide.
Down the cedar-scented alley not a footfall stirred the air,
But the monks' low droning echoed in the green gloom far and wide.