Xi

And then as I listened I seemed to see, Out of the sunset’s ruin of gold, A presence, a spirit, look down at me, With eyes that were grave with the grief of a world grown old; And I seemed to hear, with my soul, the flame of its sad mouth sigh:

“Now good-by, now good-by. Down to the Caves of the Night go I; Where a shadowy couch of the purple sky, That the moon and the starlight curtain high, Is spread for my joy and sorrow: Down to the Caves of the Night go I, Where side by side with mystery And all the Yesterdays I’ll lie; And where from my body, before I die, Will be born the young To-morrow.”