When I Heard at the Close of the Day

When I heard at the close of the day how my name had been receiv’d with plaudits in the capitol, still it was not a happy night for me that follow’d, / And else when I carous’d, or when my plans were accomplish’d, still I was not happy, / But the day when I rose at dawn from the bed of perfect health, refresh’d, singing, inhaling the ripe breath of autumn, / When I saw the full moon in the west grow pale and disappear in the morning light, / When I wander’d alone over the beach, and undressing bathed, laughing with the cool waters, and saw the sun rise, / And when I thought how my dear friend my lover was on his way coming, O then I was happy, / O then each breath tasted sweeter, and all that day my food nourish’d me more, and the beautiful day pass’d well, / And the next came with equal joy, and with the next at evening came my friend, / And that night while all was still I heard the waters roll slowly continually up the shores, / I heard the hissing rustle of the liquid and sands as directed to me whispering to congratulate me, / For the one I love most lay sleeping by me under the same cover in the cool night, / In the stillness in the autumn moonbeams his face was inclined toward me, / And his arm lay lightly around my breast—and that night I was happy.