Bring Forth Ye Shadow

Time is an abyss –
Profound as a thousand nights;
I sojourn my haste, I make respites
For what availeith this eager pace?
One step more naught to face,
Save the heirloom fatal kiss.

I rave no more ‘gainst Time or Fate,
For lo! my own shall ne’er come to me,
Yet! – Who doth my future narrate?
Dim the lights – I cannot see!
Bring forth ye Shadow! –
With whom danceth thou?

Time hath stopp’d –
Yet for others ne’er halteth;
For me the Pages of Life do not turn,
Lo! – on the funeral pyre they burn.
The oh so eathing Velvet Darkness they fear –
Heed! – wherefore delve a burrow,
When in my arms "O! Come here"? –
I say, elsewhither is naught but sorrow!

For what deemest thou so dear thy blood
When through my veins it could flood? –
Bide to merry – make me unaptly;
And hence grant me the fell gift,
The gift of passing on the dark trick.
‘Tis such a brazen act of erotic;
Trifle for thee, yet for me grandly thrift,
O! such an innocence depriv’d so hastily –

Alas, for what deemest thou so dear thy blood
When through my veins it will flood?