Poems (Kennedy)/Jack o' Lantern
JACK O'LANTERNS
OUT of the lush of the lowlands Where the dark lies cool and dankIt comes—And dips and veers, and re-appearsLike a vagrant ghost or a spirit lost— The jack o' lantern's flame.
And we?— We follow—{follow—{follow Far out through the jagged night The beck of its drifting light,And come at last in the faint first dawnTo a melting mist with the glamour gone And the spell of its magic lost.
Out of the glooms and the shadows That curtain the cycles of timeThey come—And slip away, the dreams astrayThat tempt our souls to gleaming goals On star-crowned heights.
And we?— We follow—follow—follow In eager, endless quest The lure of a mad unrest;And come at last where the life lines partWith empty hands and an empty heart, And the mock of a memory!