Joaõ Xavier de Matos

Translated by Richard Garnett

THE SUN has set, with duskiest shades imbued

The lingering daylight slowly dies away,

And Night’s dark fingers have already strewed

The air with cheerless clouds, opaque and gray;

And scarce discern I where my cottage stands,

And scarce the beech from rueful cypress know;

’Tis silence all, save that upon the sands

The distant waters moan and murmur low.

Languid I scan the wastes of dreary air,

A deadly grief sits heavy on my soul,

Unbidden tears hang quivering in my eyes,

And I could pray, if I might breathe a prayer,

That night’s dull car might never cease to roll,

And sunbeam never more illume the skies.