A Nocturn

Upon the face of darkness beams my soul⁠—
Nearby, behind the curtains of my sight;
And ’round it weary waves of wonder roll⁠—
Sad seas of color o’er dead seas of light:
Here is no Space, no Time⁠—nor day nor night⁠—
Here is the boundless, undiminished Whole⁠—
Here is my soul.

Here is no love that hides beneath its shoal
The sandix that can redden a sea of years;
Here is no lust that lies to Beauty’s mole
And draws from eyes of flint a flood of tears;
Here is no disenchantment and no fears⁠—
No blasted hopes, no jaunty joy, no dole⁠—
Here is my soul.

Now lost in clay and water; now the Whole
Is lost within me: sea and earth and sky
I dismiss from my presence, as I roll
My lids and lo, the lord of night am I.
Into the airless wilderness I fly;
Here is no vain desire, no galling goal⁠—
Here is my soul.

In Eternity, shod with the hoary noul
Of deathless Death⁠—in dim and shimmering shades
Of soilless vales that bosom and cajole
The crystal flowers dropping from cloud-cascades;
Here in the grove of myriad colonnades
Of jet and pearl and amber I now stroll⁠—
Here is my soul.