XXIII — MUSIC

By William Ernest Henley

Down the quiet eve,

Thro’ my window with the sunset

Pipes to me a distant organ

Foolish ditties;

And, as when you change

Pictures in a magic lantern,

Books, beds, bottles, floor, and ceiling

Fade and vanish,

And I'm well once more...

August flares adust and torrid,

But my heart is full of April

Sap and sweetness.

In the quiet eve

I am loitering, longing, dreaming...

Dreaming, and a distant organ

Pipes me ditties.

I can see the shop,

I can smell the sprinkled pavement,

Where she serves — her chestnut chignon

Thrills my senses!

O, the sight and scent,

Wistful eve and perfumed pavement!

In the distance pipes an organ...

The sensation

Comes to me anew,

And my spirit for a moment

Thro’ the music breathes the blessed

Airs of London.