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A Lake by Moonlight ----¯---Soft moonbeams with their silver fingers span The lake’s calm bosom: scarce an eddy stirs moves The light that pla waves upon it, saving when Some dappled moon trout up-stirs the lower blue, And rolls a lazy ripple to the shore To die in stillness. The tall, slender elms, That stud the moss-bank of the silent lake, Quiver with argent lights. Their jagged leaves Hang clear in crystal jets: yet not long since They, pendent sharp against the redd’ning sky, Took the last glory of the setting sun. But now ‘tis Night’s still reign. The stars look down And see their beauty bosom’d in the lake, Shooting responsive sparkles. Here, the moon, Cleaving the dark boughs of some tree that rims The water, scatters shadows on the deep: There, falling clear, with one pure flood of light Spreads a smooth sheen of silver.