The Boy and the Dark

     Where, O Dark, do you hide by day?
Do you fear the face of the shining su,
     That soon as he comes you hurry away
          And never come back till his race is Won.

Is Night your Mother,—the gentle Night
     The great black Mother who rocks the Moon?
O No, at the sight of that lake so white
     You shrink, and sink in a sudden swoon!

Where is your house? Is it low or high?
     Are your brothers and sisters the clouds and rain,
And the great brown shadows that fill the sky
     When trees are whipt by the hurricane?

O Dark, you are wonderful, I think;
     If I shut my eyes you’re just right here;
If I open them you are away in a wink!
     It must be, surely, your home is near.

But you bring the stars, and they are so high
     They lok over roofs and the tops of trees;
To reach so far and to seem so nigh,—
     Only a giant does things like these!

     Do you think I’m afraid of you? Not I!
You may cover my head with your blackest cap—
     The scratch of a match will make you fly,
And I know you are god, for you watch my nap.

O Dark, I believe you are only the day
     In a mask, to play bo-peep with the sun!
He comes to look, and you dodge away,—
     He ducks, and you slip your black mask on!