Autumnal Equinox

All summer long  we lay at ease

adrift  amid  the daffodils;

by dawn refreshed, and evening breeze,

the while  the Sun  the sky-dome fills.

Yet now behold,  the face of Day

confronted is  with that of Night.

And each upholds  its war-array:

there, of Darkness;  here, of Light.

Stark at noon  the balance stands;

th’ assailants are  of equal strength.

Yet mark how,  as each day  extends

it fades,  and lapses  in its length!

How too encroaches  on the brink

of twilight, when the birds seek rest,

the swarthy foe who smears his ink

alike on cloud-banks, and on nest.

Thus ever did the Gods contend;

thus e’er, the Giants  whirl the wheel

of Ragnarok, while sinews rend;

until at length -- the Noon must kneel.

Soon groan the lands ‘neath Winter’s torment;

in dark  the linnets  cease to sing.

Yet grant Lord, though the fields like dormant,

that from our ash,  may spring -- the Spring!