Poem by Ella Wheeler Wilcox

The Arrival

’What do I hear at the window?
   Did some one call me?’  Nay,
It was only the wind, my darling,
   Grieving the night away.
Only the wind and the casement
   Talking as two friends may.

’But now I hear some one speaking,
   Oh listen and you will hear.’
It is only the night bird calling
   To her mate in sudden fear.
Only the dead leaves falling;
   The last lone leaves of the year.

’But now there is some one coming,
   I hear a step on the stair.’
Nay, nay, it is nothing, darling,
   Rest, and be free from care.
I have just been out in the hallway,
   I am sure there is no one there.

Never a knock at the doorway,
   Never a step in the hall,
Yet the King is coming, coming,--
   How lightly his footsteps fall.
A sigh, and a straightening downward--
   And silence is over all.

1. The Birth of the Orchid
2. The Call (All wantonly in hours of joy)
3. Be Not Attached
4. Behold the Earth
5. The Black Charger

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