Vigil

Vigil written by Walter de la Mare

Motley and Other Poems (1918)

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Dark is the night,
       The fire burns faint and low,
Hours--days--years,
       Into grey ashes go;
I strive to read,
       But sombre is the glow.

Thumbed are the pages,
       And the print is small;
Mocking the winds
       That from the darkness call;
Feeble the fire that lends
       Its light withal.

O ghost, draw nearer;
       Let thy shadowy hair,
Blot out the pages
       That we cannot share;
Be ours the one last leaf
       By Fate left bare!

Let's Finis scrawl,
       And then Life's book put by;
Turn each to each
       In all simplicity:
Ere the last flame is gone
       To warm us by.

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