Poems (Henley)/Nocturn

by William Ernest Henley

XXVII NOCTURN

At the barren heart of midnight, When the shadow shuts and opens As the loud flames pulse and flutter, I can hear a cistern leaking.

Dripping, dropping, in a rhythm, Rough, unequal, half-melodious, Like the measures aped from nature In the infancy of music;

Like the buzzing of an insect, Still, irrational, persistent . . . I must listen, listen, listen In a passion of attention;

Till it taps upon my heartstrings, And my very life goes dripping, Dropping, dripping, drip-drip-dropping, In the drip-drop of the cistern.