The moon was rising as, hungry and weary, I came to that steep
descent I have mentioned more than once, which leads down into
the Hollow, and her pale radiance was already, upon the world--a
sleeping world wherein I seemed alone. And as I stood to gaze
upon the wonder of the heavens, and the serene beauty of the
earth, the clock in Cranbrook Church chimed nine.
All about me was a soft stirring of leaves, and the rustle of
things unseen, which was as the breathing of a sleeping host.
Borne to my nostrils came the scent of wood and herb and dewy
earth, while upstealing from the shadow of the trees below, the
voice of the brook reached me, singing its never-ending song--now
loud and clear, now sinking to a rippling murmur--a melody of joy
and sorrow, of laughter and tears, like the greater melody of Life.
And, presently, I descended into the shadows, and, walking on
beside the brook, sat me down upon a great boulder; and,
straightway, my weariness and hunger were forgotten, and I fell
a-dreaming.
Truly it was a night to dream in--a white night, full of the moon
and the magic of the moon. Slowly she mounted upwards, peeping
down at me through whispering leaves, checkering the shadows with
silver, and turning the brook into a path of silver for the feet
of fairies. Yes, indeed, the very air seemed fraught with a
magic whereby the unreal became the real and things impossible
the manifestly possible.
And so, staring up at the moon's pale loveliness, I dreamed the
deathless dreams of long-dead poets and romancers, wherein were
the notes of dreamy lutes, the soft whisper of trailing garments,
and sighing voices that called beneath the breath. Between
Petrarch's Laura and Dante's Beatrice came one as proud and
gracious and beautiful as they, deep-bosomed, broad-hipped, with
a red, red mouth, and a subtle witchery of the eyes. I dreamed
of nymphs and satyrs, of fauns and dryads, and of the young
Endymion who, on just such another night, in just such another
leafy bower, waited the coming of his goddess.
Now as I sat thus, chin in hand, I heard a little sound behind
me, the rustling of leaves, and, turning my head, beheld one who
stood half in shadow, half in moonlight, looking down at me
beneath a shy languor of drooping lids, with eyes hidden by their
lashes--a woman tall and fair, and strong as Dian's self.
Very still she stood, and half wistful, as if waiting for me to
speak, and very silent I sat, staring up at her as she had been
the embodiment of my dreams conjured tip by the magic of the
night, while, from the mysteries of the woods, stole the soft,
sweet song of a nightingale.