190
THE EQUINOX
The livid lightning strikes us, and we fall
With one last cry into a vast abyss,
And time and space exist there not at all:
We have encompassed heaven in a kiss.
And for a moment we are gods, immortal,
Stricken to death within the secret portal.
(v1)
In the red dusk of Autumn, when the day
Died down to night, and lamps were lit, and we
Stared at the flames that made the ceiling gray
With wavering shadows, sporting eerily,
We lay all naked, talking of the things
Of the old dim world, when life and art were young;
Of the old bards who lightly touched their strings ;
Who sang of love and life as I have sung.
And then I felt you kiss me as I roved
Back to the brightness of the world of old;
And so the past grew dearer, as I loved
And loved you more: the path grew ever gold,
Merging at last into the golden light
Of the Golden Age : we were re-born that night.
(vir)
More sombrely the secret summer broods
Upon the world; there is no sense of green
—In all the listening, virgin solitudes
Of the spirit—that is not stirred; ah, love! we lean