“THE SUN HAS LONG BEEN SET”
THE sun has long been set, The stars are out by twos and threes, The little birds are piping yet Among the bushes and trees; There’s a cuckoo, and one or two thrushes, And a far-off wind that rushes, And a sound of water that gushes, And the cuckoo’s sovereign cry Fills all the hollow of the sky. Who would “go parading” 10 In London, “and masquerading,” On such a night of June With that beautiful soft half-moon, And all these innocent blisses? On such a night as this is! 1804.