midnight
That loveliest star fades from my sight , Leaves the fond presence of the doting night , And softly sinks awhile , A little while , Its radiance into brief exile From mourning night . So shall my blissful flame of life expire , So fail from light , and love , and life 's desire . So pondered Atmâ in that strange calm that follows an overwhelming stroke of calamity . It was midnight , and the moon shone on the old Moslem Burial Place , where he awaited the coming of Bertram . The trees cast long black shadows , and here and there the monuments gleamed like silver . His mind had not yet grasped the full enormity of the conspiracy of which he was the victim , but he knew that the perfidy of Lal and the loss of the Sapphire meant death to his hopes of winning victory for the Khalsa . But his heart was strangely still .