Now I Am a Plant, a Weed

Now I am a plant, a weed,

Bending and swinging

On a rocky ledge;

And now I am a long brown grass

Fluttering like flame;

I am a reed;

An old shell singing

For ever the same;

A drift of sedge;

A white, white stone;

A bone;

Until I pass

Into sand again,

And spin and blow

To and fro, to and fro,

On the edge of the sea

In the fading light—

    For the light fades.

But if you were to come you would not say:

"She is not waiting here for me;

She has forgotten."  Have we not in play

Disguised ourselves as weed and stones and grass

While the strange ships did pass

Gently, gravely, leaving a curl of foam

That uncurled softly about our island home,

Bubbles of foam that glittered on the stone

Like rainbows?  Look, darling!  No, they are gone.

And the white sails have melted into the sailing sky…