Classic Poem

My bark is clearing a path of light
Over the waters fair,
In whose crystal depths the Queen of Night
Is bathing her golding hair.
Silence and beauty are throned above,
In the vaults of the summer sky,
And the river murmurs a tale of love
To the stars as it ripples by.

Tell, fair Moon, if thy golden eye
My lady-love can discover,
Does she gaze on thine orb in sympathy
And muse on her distant lover?
Or if through her casement thou shinest now,
On her pride in sleep serene,
Strew lightly, Moon, on her peerless brow
The snow of thy silver sheen.

Night wind, droop thy waving wings,
I pray thee cease to rove,
Till I burden thy heedless wanderings
With the precious freight of love.
Then plume thy scented wing once more,
Thy way by the moonlight steer,
And the burning tide of my bosom pour
By stealth in my lady's ear.

Breathe to her, wind, farewell, for one
Over whose days she threw
A ray of gladness such as shone
When yet the world was new.
Say that afar his heart will tell
Of those bright hours cherished long,
As the crimson lip of the lone sea-shell
Murmurs its ocean song.