Classic Poem

The sea a great vague mistiness of blue,
A thread of murmur drawn about the shore,
The journeying of wind across the moor
Even and slow and delicate with dew.
The peace of ancient sorrow come anew,
The resignation of a great despair
And failing of all struggle into prayer;—
The promise of a day is proved untrue.
The choired sweetness of home-gathered birds,
The tall gaunt shadows and the mellow light,
The tirèd leaves that fold against the tree;
Within the heart unutterable words,
The pure compassion of the toward night—
A day that dies and never more shall be.