I
I have lived with shades so long,
And talked to them so oft,
Since forth from cot and croft
I went mankind among,
That sometimes they
In their dim style
Will pause awhile
To hear my say;
II
And take me by the hand,
And lead me through their rooms
In the To-be, where Dooms
Half-wove and shapeless stand:
And show from there
The dwindled dust
And rot and rust
Of things that were.
III
‘Now turn,’ spake they to me
One day: ‘Look whence we came,
And signify his name
Who gazes thence at thee.’ —
— ‘Nor name nor race
Know I, or can,’
I said, ‘Of man
So commonplace.
IV
‘He moves me not at all;
I note no ray or jot
Of rareness in his lot,
Or star exceptional.
Into the dim
Dead throngs around
He’ll sink, nor sound
Be left of him.’
V
‘Yet,’ said they, ‘his frail speech,
Hath accents pitched like thine —
Thy mould and his define
A likeness each to each —
But go! Deep pain
Alas, would be
His name to thee,
And told in vain! ‘
‘O memory, where is now my youth,
Who used to say that life was truth? ‘
‘I saw him in a crumbled cot
Beneath a tottering tree;
That he as phantom lingers there
Is only known to me.’
‘O Memory, where is now my joy,
Who lived with me in sweet employ? ‘
‘I saw him in gaunt gardens lone,
Where laughter used to be;
That he as phantom wanders there
Is known to none but me.’
‘O Memory, where is now my hope,
Who charged with deeds my skill and scope? ‘
‘I saw her in a tomb of tomes,
Where dreams are wont to be;
That she as spectre haunteth there
Is only known to me.’
‘O Memory, where is now my faith,
One time a champion, now a wraith? ‘
‘I saw her in a ravaged aisle,
Bowed down on bended knee;
That her poor ghost outflickers there
Is known to none but me.’
‘O Memory, where is now my love,
That rayed me as a god above? ‘
‘I saw him by an ageing shape
Where beauty used to be;
That his fond phantom lingers there
Is only known to me.’