Classic Poem

What time the stars first flocked into the blue
Behind young Hesper, shepherd of the eve,
Sleep bathed the fair boy's lids with charmed dew,
Mid flowers that all day blossomed to receive
Endymion.

Lo! where he lay encircled in his dream;
the moss was glad to pillow his soft hair,
And toward him leaned the lily from the stream,
The hanging vine waved wooing in the air
Endymion.

The brook that erewhile won its easy way,
O'errun with meadow grasses long and cool,
Now reeled into a fuller tide and lay
Caressing in its clear enamoured pool
Endymion.

And all the sweet, delicious airs that fan
Enchanted gardens in their hour of bloom,
Blown through the soft invisible pipes of Pan,
Breathed, 'mid their mingled music and perfume,
Endymion.

The silvery leaves that rustled in the light,
Sent their winged shadows o'er his cheek entranced;
The constellations wandered down the night,
And whispered to the dew-drops where they danced,
Endymion.

Lo! there he slept, and all his flock at will
Went star-like down the meadow's azure mist; —
What wonder that pale Dian with a thrill
Breathed on his lips her sudden love, and kissed