Wreathed in silence, laid down in shades Swathed in regrets, deluded astray Forgotten in half-light, drawn in despair Soothed in slumber so dreadful and fair
Rending and searing and twisting my dreams Alone in the gloom with the nightmares unseen
The night has a thousand eyes, And the day but one; Yet the light of the bright world dies With the dying sun
The mind has a thousand eyes, And the heart but one: Yet the light of a whole life dies When love is done
Worthless the pledges, all vows but lies Fateful her kisses, where a serpent hides First beckoned to step from the twilight to glare Then left in the dark for the demons to share
Only the stars see, only the moon hears...
And quietly the water-lilies sigh Like the last breath of a weary soul And the weed sway in the dreary waters Like a girl’s dark hair they wave about
And the black stones under my bare feet Cold and smooth like her milk-white palm And the silence which falls upon this shore Resounds now louder than oncoming storm
For all is gone
[Chorus is taken from Francis William Bourdillon’s poem The Night Has a Thousand Eyes.]