Nocturne 2
A wide expanse enclosed by a wealth of wilderness
Where one night I wandered out, on nocturnal excursion
It was an open maidan
Where giant tree stood in clumps, casting
Deep, romantic shadow, though which one could still
Discern small lights shining in windows that were open,
In house scattered about the plain. All were far-off,
But the domestic glow of lights dispelled the gloom
That tends to overpower the mind when nature
Shows no trace of the human hand. It was a night of
Brilliant stars, and a sickle moon that rode high,
Shone over the weald with a soft, opalescent luster.
The night air was chilly and the crickets and cicadas
That carried on their choral duet seemed not to have
Much heart for singing and soon gave up their medley
And great old trees that seemed to extend many a hoary
Branch over the road, I felt in that moment
In the stillness, and in the evidence of human habitation
That seemed to blend with the nature landscape,
A peculiar peace and blessedness that was
In a way the very meaning and purpose of life.
