| Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–1882). Complete Poetical Works. 1893. | | | | The Seaside and the Fireside | By the Seaside.
Twilight |
| | | THE TWILIGHT is sad and cloudy, | |
| The wind blows wild and free, | |
| And like the wings of sea-birds | |
| Flash the white caps of the sea. | |
| |
| But in the fisherman’s cottage | 5 |
| There shines a ruddier light, | |
| And a little face at the window | |
| Peers out into the night. | |
| |
| Close, close it is pressed to the window, | |
| As if those childish eyes | 10 |
| Were looking into the darkness | |
| To see some form arise. | |
| |
| And a woman’s waving shadow | |
| Is passing to and fro, | |
| Now rising to the ceiling, | 15 |
| Now bowing and bending low. | |
| |
| What tale do the roaring ocean, | |
| And the night-wind, bleak and wild, | |
| As they beat at the crazy casement, | |
| Tell to that little child? | 20 |
| |
| And why do the roaring ocean, | |
| And the night-wind, wild and bleak, | |
| As they beat at the heart of the mother | |
| Drive the color from her cheek? | | | | |
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