XVII
We sat in silence till the twilight fell,
And then beyond the vague and purple arc
Where sky and ocean merge, a summons. "Hark!
Clear notes like water falling in a well,
Can you not hear?" "No, but a sudden dark
Seems to enfold me, lonely and terrible."
Out of the sunset, a black caravel
Drew near, and then I knew I should embark.
I saw it tack against the fading skies,
I heard its keel slide crunching up the sand,
Then turned, and read, deep in the other's eyes,
The pain of one who can not understand.
Dusk deepened over the insurging seas,
And loose sails crackled in the rising breeze.
XVIII
He clung to me, his young face dark with woe,
And as the mournful music of the tide
Monotonously sang, he stood and cried,
A silhouette against the afterglow.
I said, "The boat has spread her pinions wide;
The stars and wind come forth together. Go
Back to our ivy-haunted portico,
And place my seat as always at your side."
And so I stepped aboard and left him there.
Farewell; the rhythmic somnolence of oars;
Star-misty vastness; swiftly moving air;
Then distant lights on undiscovered shores.
This I remember, standing by the sea,
But where was that dark land, and who were we?
*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, THE FIVE BOOKS OF YOUTH ***
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