Till the rapture was shut in itself, and the earth sank to rest.

Anon at the dawn, all that trouble had withered from earth—

Not so much, but I saw it die out in the day’s tender birth;

In the gathered intensity brought to the grey of the hills;

In the shuddering forests’ held breath; in the sudden wind-thrills;

In the startled wild beasts that bore off, each with eye sidling still,

Though averted with wonder and dread; in the birds stiff and chill

That rose heavily as I approached them, made stupid with awe:

E’en the serpent that slid away silent—he felt the new law.

The same stared in the white humid faces upturned by the flowers;