August Moonlight

THE SOLEMN light behind the barns,

The rising moon, the cricket’s call,

The August night, and you and I—

What is the meaning of it all!

Has it a meaning, after all?

Or is it one of Nature’s lies,

That net of beauty that she casts

Over Life’s unsuspecting eyes?

That web of beauty that she weaves

For one strange purpose of her own,—

For this the painted butterfly,

For this the rose—for this alone!

Strange repetition of the rose,

And strange reiterated call

Of bird and insect, man and maid,—

Is that the meaning of it all?

If it means nothing after all!

And nothing lives except to die—

It is enough—that solemn light

Behind the barns, and you and I.