“June Rain”

June, 
And a new moon 
Flying the west, like a golden dove, 
Thro’ the clouds that swim, 
Wraithlike and dim, 
The sleeping amethyst sea above; 
The deep red rose 
Thro’ the dusk that glows, 
With tremulous petals wide outspread, 
And shakes perfume 
Thro’ the unlit room, 
Where Sorrow sits with drooping head; 
The pale soft kiss 
Of the clematis 
On the pane . . . Later, the rain; 
Musical, light, 
Thro’ the long, sweet night, 
The sorrow-hushing rain! 
Oh, heart that aches, 
And heart that breaks, 
And heart that is torn with wild regret, 
Take cheer again 
In thy bitter pain, 
There is hope for the sorriest hearted yet; 
While speaks the rain 
At the door and pane, 
And to passionate plaining murmurs,―“Hush!” 
While its soft notes sigh 
Like a lullaby 
“Hush thee, hush theehushhush!”
 

“June Rain” as it appears in Higginson’s The Voice of April-Land and Other Poems (1903).