Thomas MacDonagh

Sundown

Lilac and green of the sky,
Brown of the broken earth,
Apple trees whitening high,
May and the Summer's birth.

Voices of children and mirth
Singing of clouds that are ships,
Sure to sail into the firth
Where the sun's anchor now dips.

Here is our garden that sips
Sweets that the May bestows,
Breath of laburnum lips,
Breath of the lilac and rose.

Blossoms of blue will close
After the ships are gone,
Drinking the dew in a doze
Under the dark till the dawn.

Twilight and ships crowd on
Into the road of the West,
After the sun where he shone
Reddening down to rest.