Poems (Henley)/Some starlit garden grey with dew

by William Ernest Henley

XII

Some starlit garden grey with dew,Some chamber flushed with wine and fire,What matters where, so I and you  Are worthy our desire?

Behind, a past that scolds and jeersFor ungirt loins and lamps unlit;In front, the unmanageable years,  The trap upon the Pit

Think on the shame of dreams for deeds,The scandal of unnatural strife,The slur upon immortal needs,  The treason done to life:

Arise! no more a living lie,And with me quicken and controlSome memory that shall magnify  The universal Soul.