A twilight peace droops tenderly,
The discords of the day depart,
And through the hush there comes to be
A harmony within the heart;
And waking to the quivering strings
Spirits are touched to finer things.
Sweet hand-fast silences of eve,
When love's supremest note is heard
In symphonies the spirits weave
Beyond the need of mortal word,
O! may we keep your music when
We pace the noisy haunts of men.
Give us the strength for daily stress
Of toil about the busy world;
Give us a balm to bitterness
From wounds when cruel shafts are hurled;
And give us courage in a sense
Of Love's divine omnipotence.
For Life can never lonely be
Since Love has broken all the bars
That stayed the soul from unity
With Heaven and its ten thousand stars,
Whose music falls sublimely grand
Through silences of hand in hand.