There is a hushed suspension on the air,
And the slow bells summon unhurried feet
To dim reclosures kept for praise and prayer.
Drawn blinds have shut the merchant's wares away,
Where two by two the goodly folk go by,
Out of their toilsome days into this day
Of special airs beneath a special sky.

A little while, and all at last are gone;
The streets are stilled of passers up and down;
Only the pealing bells toll on and on,--
Till these, too, cease, and all the silent Town
In street, and roof, and spire, and grassy sod,
Lies steeped in sunlight, smiling back at God.

III

IN APRIL

The way of Spring with little steepled towns
Is such a shy, transforming sorcery
Of special lights and swift, incredible crowns,
That grave men wonder how such things may be.
No friendly spire, no daily-trodden way
But somehow alters in the April air,
Grown dearer still, on some enchanted day,
For shining garments they have come to wear.

The way the spring comes to our Town is such
That something quickens in the hearts of men,
Turning them lovers at its subtle touch,
Till they must lift their heads again--again--
As lovers do, with frank, adoring eyes,
Where the long street of lifted steeples lies.

IV

WATCHERS

I think those townsmen, sleeping on the hill,
Are never careless how the Town may fare,
But jealous of her quiet beauty still,
Her ways and worth are things for which they care:
For shuttered house, and gateways and the grass,
And how the streets, tree-bordered all and cool,
Are still a pleasant way for folks to pass:
Men at their work and children home from school.
I cannot doubt that they are pleased to see
Their planted elms grown dearer year by year:
Their living witness unto such as we ...
And they are less regretful when they hear
Some name we speak, some tale we tell again,
Of days when they were warm and living men.

V

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

These morning streets, the lawns of windy grass,
And spires that wear the sunlight like a crown,
The square where busy, happy people pass:
The living soul that lights the little Town,--
These have been shining beauty for my mind,
And joy, and friendship, and a tale to tell,
And these have been a presence that is kind,
A quiet music and a healing well.