| Samuel Waddington, comp. The Sonnets of Europe. 1888. | | | | Night-fall | | By Joaõ Xavier de Matos |
| | Translated by Richard Garnett
THE SUN has set, with duskiest shades imbued | |
| The lingering daylight slowly dies away, | |
| And Night’s dark fingers have already strewed | |
| The air with cheerless clouds, opaque and gray; | |
| And scarce discern I where my cottage stands, | 5 |
| And scarce the beech from rueful cypress know; | |
| ’Tis silence all, save that upon the sands | |
| The distant waters moan and murmur low. | |
| Languid I scan the wastes of dreary air, | |
| A deadly grief sits heavy on my soul, | 10 |
| Unbidden tears hang quivering in my eyes, | |
| And I could pray, if I might breathe a prayer, | |
| That night’s dull car might never cease to roll, | |
| And sunbeam never more illume the skies. | | | | |
|
|
