Twilight is falling on lake and on land,
Softly the wavelets steal in to the strand,
Fisher-boats, floating like sea-gulls at rest,
Glow in the lingering light of the west,
Far-away vesper-bells hallow the air,
Ave Maria! the world seems at prayer.

One more immaculate sunset exposed,
One chapter more of life's history closed,
One more bead told on the chaplet of time,
One further stride in Earth's orbit sublime;—
Linked to the measureless chain of the past,
One added day, … to so many their last!

Slowly the colors diminish and die,
Slowly the stellar hosts people the sky,
Lost is the light on the fishermen's sails,
Sweet is the exquisite peace that prevails,
Silence and solitude brood o'er the deep,
Ave Maria! the world seems to sleep.

One more magnificent pageant to face,—
Numberless systems in infinite space;
Once more our planet in majesty rolls
On through the darkness its burden of souls;—
Linked to the limitless chain of the past,
One added night, … to so many their last!