Absence.
The April sunshine, soft and fair,1
Touches the meadows cheerily ;2
Wild violets scent the warm still air ;3
But ever through the bright spring hours,4
The sunshine and the opening flowers,5
My spirit hungers to be fed,6
And faints for love’s dear daily bread,7
Yearning, beloved, for thee !8
The day wears on, the evening lone9
Comes up across the misty lea ;10
I watch the stars as one by one11
They glimmer out ; my eyes are wet ;12
My heart is filled with vague regret,13
Haunting it like a sad refrain ;14
I cannot still this restless pain,15
Thinking, beloved, of thee !16
The twilight deepens ; brooding sleep17
Shadows the green earth tenderly ;18
The house lies hushed in slumber deep ;19
The peace of heaven seems strangely near ;20
I kneel beneath the moonbeams clear,21
And soft upon my troubled breast22
Comes down a blessed sense of rest,23
Praying, beloved, for thee !24