Stedman and Hutchinson, comps. A Library of American Literature:
An Anthology in Eleven Volumes. 1891.
Vols. IX–XI: Literature of the Republic, Part IV., 1861–1889
Song: ‘We sail toward evening’s lonely star’
By Celia Laighton Thaxter (1835–1894)W
That trembles in the tender blue;
One single cloud, a dusky bar,
Burnt with dull carmine through and through,
Slow smouldering in the summer sky,
Lies low along the fading west
How sweet to watch its splendors die,
Wave-cradled thus and wind-caressed!
To kiss our cheeks, with sudden cheer;
Upon the dark edge of the bay
Light-houses kindle, far and near,
And through the warm deeps of the sky
Steal faint star-clusters, while we rest
In deep refreshment, thou and I,
Wave-cradled thus and wind-caressed.
Star-beam and darkness, sky and sea;
Thy face, pale in the shadowy even.
Thy quiet eyes that gaze on me!
O realize the moment’s charm,
Thou dearest! we are at life’s best,
Folded in God’s encircling arm,
Wave-cradled thus and wind-caressed.