Moonset

Emily Pauline Johnson (1861-1913), also known as Tekahionwake, was a popular Canadian poet, author and performer. Her father was a Mohawk chief of mixed ancestry, and her mother was an immigrant from England. Johnson's work reflects her heritage from both parents. "Moonset" is a thoughtful, reflective ode to the moon setting in a forest: Idles the night wind through the dreaming firs, That waking murmur low, As some lost melody returning stirs The love of long ago; And through the far, cool distance, zephyr fanned. The moon is sinking into shadow-land. The troubled night-bird, calling plaintively, Wanders on restless wing; The cedars, chanting vespers to the sea, Await its answering, That comes in wash of waves along the strand, The while the moon slips into shadow-land. O! soft responsive voices of the night I join your minstrelsy. And call across the fading silver light As something calls to me; I may not all your meaning understand, But I have touched your soul in shadow-land.