The Imp

At the evening hour I bend
In a reverential awe,
Day draws darkly to its end,
In fulfilment of the law :
So I bow and make my peace,
To the power of gloom I pray,
For he causeth day to cease
By his universal Nay.

When the sun shines bright again
And the day laughs to the sky,
When the distant hills are plain
To the leaping of my eye ;
Lust of life shall make me sin,
Sin and laugh and dance and pray
To him who makes the day begin
By his universal Yea.

Yea and nay and here and there,
Back and forth, begin and end,
Joy and woe and foul and fair,
Give and take and break and mend ;
These are words which I despise
Although at morn and eve I pray,
Throwing dust into the eyes
Of the gods of Yea and Nay.

Songs From The Clay [1915]