But to receive you;

Tranquilly, silently,
The breeze caressed you,
O Sunlight of Night
And Dream of the Day;

Tranquilly, silently,
Our home was gladdened
With sweetness of amber
With your grace magnetic;

Tranquilly, silently,
Our home beheld you,
Beauty of the morning star,
Light of the star of evening;

Tranquilly, silently,
Little moons, mouth and eyes,
One dawn you vanished
Upon a cruel deathbed;

Tranquilly, silently,
In spite of all our kisses,
Away you wandered
Torn from our bosom;

Tranquilly, silently,
O word, O verse, O rime,
Your witherless flowers
Sow on his grave faith-shaking.

In another poem reminiscent of Tibullean tenderness, the corners of the
deserted home, in which the child, during his life, had lingered to
play, laugh, or weep, converse with each other about their absent guest:

Things living weep for you,
And lifeless things are mourning;
The corners, too, forlorn,
Remember you with longing:

"One evening, angry here he sat,
And slept in bitterness."
"Here, often he sat listening
Enchanted to the tale."

"Here, I beheld with pride
The grace of Love half-naked;
An empty bed and stripped
Is all that now is left me."

"I always looked for him;
He held a book; how often
He sat by me to read
With singing tongue its pages!"

"What is this pile of toys?
Why are they piled before me
As if I were a grave?
Are they his little playthings?

"The little man comes not;
For death with early frost
Has nipped his little dreams
And chilled his little doings."

"His little sword is idle,
And here has come to rest."
"And here his little ship
Without its captain waits."

"To me, they brought him sick
And took him away extinguished."
"They watered me with tears
And perfumed me with incense."

"The dead child's taper burns
Consuming and consumed."
"The tempest wildly beats
Upon the doors and windows,
And deep into our breasts
The tempest's moan is echoed."

And all the house about
For thee, my child, is groaning ...

THE WORLD BEYOND GREECE

Greece seems to encompass the physical world with which Palamas has come
in contact. He does not seem to have travelled beyond its borders, and
even within them, he has