Shapes and Shadows — Contrasts

CONTRASTS.

No eve of summer ever can attain The gladness of that eve of late _July_, When 'mid the roses, filled with musk and rain, Against the wondrous topaz of the sky, I met you, leaning on the pasture bars,-- While heaven and earth grew conscious of the stars.

No night of blackest winter can repeat The bitterness of that _December_ night, When at your gate, gray-glittering with sleet, Within the glimmering square of window-light, We parted,--long you clung unto my arm,-- While heaven and earth surrendered to the storm.