Once in the starlight When tides were low, And surf fell sobbing To the undertow, I trod the windless dunes Alone with Edgar Poe. Dim and far behind us, Like a fabled bloom On the myrtle thickets, In the swaying gloom Hung the clustered windows Of the barrack-room. Faint on the evening, Tenuous and far As the beauty shaken From a vagrant star, Throbbed the ache and passion Of an old guitar. Life closed behind us Like a swinging gate, Leaving us unfettered And emancipate; Confidants of Destiny, Intimates of Fate. I could only cower Silent, while the night, Seething with its planets, Parted to our sight, Showing us infinity In its breadth and height. But my chosen comrade, Tossing back his hair With the old loved gesture, Raised his face, and there Shone that agony that those Loved of God must bear. Oh, we heard the many things Silence has to say -- He and I together As alone we lay Waiting for the slow sweet Miracle of day. When the bugle's silver Spiralled up the dawn Dew-clear, night-cool, And the stars were gone, I arose exultant, Like a man new-born. But my friend and master, Heavy-limbed and spent, Turned, as one must turn at last From the sacrament; And his eyes were deep with God's Burning discontent. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...NEW-MADE HONOUR (IMITATED FROM MARTIAL) by RICHARD HARRIS BARHAM THE MITHERLESS BAIRN by WILLIAM THOM SATIRE: 3. TO SIR FRANCIS BRIAN by THOMAS WYATT A SONG OF LIFE by ABRAHAM IBN EZRA INSTRUCTIONS, SUPPOSED TO BE WRITTEN IN PARIS, FOR THE MOB IN ENGLAND by MARY (CUMBERLAND) ALCOCK THE BROWN GIANT by ALEXANDER ANDERSON OUR BIRTH-CORD by KOFI ANYIDOHO |