The noon-time silence is complete,

As sleepy felines laze replete

On antique terracotta tiles

And in doorways of many styles.

Warmly the polished granites glow,

Gone is the human ebb and flow,

Only the shadows, dark and deep,

Across the city slowly creep.

Breezes languish, the leaves are still;

Here is imposed a mighty will

That lulls the empty streets to sleep,

There in the dusty heat to keep,

Until the sun’s oppressive light

Yields to the cool caress of night.