The world trembled On the surface of your tea And you said - The days come and go, Each colder than the last; You pretend you do not know Through your fingers how fast Time slips away; Ghosts crowd in round the edges of the month And you dream alone, Under speaking trees. You dreamt that the woman who lived in the moon Smiled but once, and you were lost; For all the days and all the hours You were drowned in silver night, Thought nothing of the end of time - Yet so it came, and so the earth Turned about you and threw your lady down. I swear I will be true She cried As she fell from the moon; All the cold and burning miles she wept For love of you And where she lies now none can tell. There passed some time, wherein you woke and dreamed And woke again, and better loved the dream – In hollow places you have sought the moon In holes reverberate with your tuneless hum And in the night your unmelodic tears Fall, unnoticed and forlorn. You have seen her pale reflection And loved it still, and knew yourself a fool; Blindly, long you delved, Never seeing, ever watchful. The dream passed then, and you alone Were left awake to see the dying light; Fallen leaves that tangled in your hair And all the warmth gone from your aching limbs. But oh, the heaven of delight When midway on that long dark road You saw the lady riding up her course And pass from out the tangled, ragged clouds, So long obscured, more glorious made; You sang, and she a moment stayed Her steady arc, and all the songs You shaped in dreams returned – Her hand met yours, her ghostly lips You felt upon your own, and she was gone. Thus your dreams would have you delving still – That beloved of my soul, the moon That pale and fleeting face! Whose eyes have turned the tide of years And wept, and left no trace.
Discussion about this post
No posts