RETOUR EN SONGE

AFTER a dream-dim voyage

We came with sails all set

Towards the city of the sea,

And it was wonderful to me

To find her reigning yet.

Oh beauty that my eyes and heart

Had feasted on before!

The evening mosques were brushed with gold,

The water lapped a lazy fold

Upon that lovely shore;

The gardens of her terraced hills

Rose up above the port,

And little houses half concealed

The presence of a light revealed,

And here my journey's end was sealed,

And I reached the home I sought.

Those windows I had opened wide

To welcome in the sun!

Those stairs that only happy feet

Had measured with their running beat!

That well-remembered winding street!

Twelve months that were as one!

Should others with their sordid cares

And troubles enter here?

Love hung about the rooms like smoke,

And peace descended as a cloak,

Should I allow the vulgar folk

To desecrate that year?

— I laid the fuse with steady hand;

We sailed into the night,

From deck I watched the flames arise

Remorseless as my tearless eyes

That, with the waves and reddened skies,

Flung back the angry light.