Before dawn

F. Barbour

A keen, insistent hint of dawn

Fell from the mountain height;

A wan, uncertain gleam betrayed

The faltering of the night.

The emphasis of silence made

The fog above the brook

Intensely pale; the trees took on

A haunted, haggard look.

Such quiet came, expectancy

Filled all the earth and sky:

Time seemed to pause a little space;

I heard a dream go by!