Henry Timrod

Serenade

Hide, happy damask, from the stars,
 What sleep enfolds behind your veil,
But open to the fairy cars
 On which the dreams of midnight sail;
And let the zephyrs rise and fall
 About her in the curtained gloom,
And then return to tell me all
 The silken secrets of the room.

Ah, dearest! may the elves that sway
 Thy fancies come from emerald plots,
Where they have dozed and dreamed all day
 In hearts of blue forget-me-nots.
And one perhaps shall whisper thus:
 Awake! and light the darkness, Sweet!
While thou art reveling with us,
 He watches in the lonely street.