AT NIGHTFALL

 

          AT NIGHTFALL

 I need so much the quiet of your love

After the day’s loud strife

I need your calm all other things above

After the stress of life.

 

I crave the haven that in your dear heart lies,

After all toil is done;

I need the starshine of your heavenly eyes,

After the day’s great sun.

 

            This very short  poem which makes the difference between the strife of the day and the rest of the night is by the American poet Charles Hanson Towne (1877—1949).  The poet tells his beloved how when he is away from her his day is spent in stressful labour of the day and he waits for the nightfall when there will be her stress-bursting  heavenly eyes.  He will have rest instead of toil and calmness in place of turbulent activities of the day. The night is thus presented as a time of relaxation, and of union with his lover in whose heart he sees a heaven  for himself. This change from day to night is his physical and mental need. The day is a stress breeder without the presence of his lover and the night is stress-buster with her presence.  

 

                                                **********

G. R. Kanwal

7^th October 2023