The Whisper of the Sands

Night, and the golden glory of the moon
Above the undulant sweep of desert lands,
And borne o'er dusky dale and shimmering dune
The whisper of the sands!

Faint as the faintest ripple on the shore
Of Nile that holds its enigmatic spell;.
Faint as the dawn-wind where tall palm-trees soar,
Or murmur in a shell!

Faint and inscrutable, freighted with the breath
Of ages that have long, long ceased to be;
Weighted with mysteries of birth and death,
Time and eternity!

And so I linger till the night grows old
And the rose-blossom of the morn expands,
And hear these ceaseless marvels manifold, —
The whisper of the sands!