EVENING.
FROM THE PORTUGUESE OF CAMOENS.
Silent and cool, now freshening breezes blow
Where groves of chestnut crown yon shadowy steep,
And all around the tears of evening weep
For closing day, whose vast orb, westering slow,
Flings o’er the embattled clouds a mellower glow;
While pens of folded herds, and murmuring deep,
And falling rills, such gentle cadence keep,
As e’en might soothe the weary heart of woe.
Yet what to me is eve, what evening airs,
Or falling rills, or ocean’s murmuring sound,
While sad and comfortless I seek in vain
Her who in absence turns my joy to cares,
And, as I cast my listless glances round,
Makes varied scenery but varied pain?
Translation of Viscount Strangford. Luis de Camoens, 1524–1579.