Poems (Henley)/The shadow of Dawn

by William Ernest Henley

XX

The shadow of Dawn;Stillness and stars and over-mastering dreamsOf Life and Death and Sleep;Heard over gleaming flats, the old, unchanging soundOf the old, unchanging Sea.

My soul and yours—O, hand in hand let us fare forth, two ghosts,Into the ghostliness,The infinite and abounding solitudes,Beyond—O, beyond!—beyond . . .

Here in the porchUpon the multitudinous silencesOf the kingdoms of the grave,We twain are you and I—two ghosts OmnipotenceCan touch no more . . . no more!