The song of a man who was dead Ere any had heard of his song, Or had seen this his ultimate song, With the lines of it written in red, And the sound of it steady and strong....
I am afraid to think about my death, When it shall be, and whether in great pain I shall rise up and fight the air for breath Or calmly wait the bursting of my brain. ...
'Who are you, Sea Lady, And where in the seas are we? I have too long been steering By the flashes in your eyes. Why drops the moonlight through my heart,...
Over the moonless land of Bathrolaire Rises at night, when revelry begins, A white unreal orb, a sun that spins, A sun that watches with a sullen stare That dance spasmodic they are dancing there,...
I have seen old ships sail like swans asleep Beyond the village which men still call Tyre, With leaden age o'ercargoed, dipping deep For Famagusta and the hidden sun...
Had I the power To Midas given of old To touch a flower And leave the petals gold I then might touch thy face, Delightful boy, And leave a metal grace, A graven joy. ...
Now the sweet Dawn on brighter fields afar Has walked among the daisies, and has breathed The glory of the mountain winds, and sheathed The stubborn sword of Night's last-shining star....
We are they who come faster than fate: we are they who ride early or late: We storm at your ivory gate: Pale Kings of the Sunset, beware! Not on silk nor in samet we lie, not in curtained solemnity die...