TRYST (AFTER READING FROM SHAKESPEARE)

Night, thou art heavy, with no stars to chain Thy darkness unto heaven, that thy feet May dance along these cliffs in gay retreat Of the pursuing sea; heavy as pain Where eyes see not the end, or tears that stain The joy of him who conquers by defeat; Or this dark sea whose heart doth climb and beat The stones that make no sign, then falls again. Cry with the night and wrestle with the wave, Ye two-edged winds that cut this shore and me; I warm me still with thinking of a grave That can not hold the dust's eternal part; For here across the centuries and the sea, A dead hand lies like flame upon my heart.