GHOSTS

O to creep in by candle-light,

When all the world is fast asleep,

Out of the cold winds, out of the night,

Where the nettles wave and the rains weep!

O, to creep in, lifting the latch

So quietly that no soul could hear,

And, at those embers in the gloom,

Quietly light one careful match —

You should not hear it, have no fear —

And light the candle and look round

The old familiar room;

To see the old books upon the wall

And lovingly take one down again,

And hear — O, strange to those that lay

So patiently underground —

The ticking of the clock, the sound

Of clicking embers... watch the play

Of shadows... till the implacable call

Of morning turn our faces grey;

And, or ever we go, we lift and kiss

Some idle thing that your hands may touch,

Some paper or book that your hands let fall,

And we never — when living — had cared so much

As to glance upon twice...

But now, O bliss

To kiss and to cherish it, moaning our pain,

Ere we creep to the silence again.