Poems by William Ernest Henley

All Poems Original Poems Translations

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Suicide

Staring corpselike at the ceiling,

See his harsh, unrazored features,

Ghastly brown against the pillow,

And his throat—so strangely bandaged!

Lack of work and lack of victuals,

A debauch of smuggled whisky,

And his children in the workhouse

Made the world so black a riddle

William Ernest Henley

A Wink From Hesper

A wink from Hesper, falling

Fast in the wintry sky,

Comes through the even blue,

Dear, like a word from you…

Is it good-bye?

Across the miles between us

I send you sigh for sigh.

Good-Night, sweet friend, good-night:

William Ernest Henley

There's A Regret

There's a regret

So grinding, so immitigably sad,

Remorse thereby feels tolerant, even glad.…

Do you not know it yet?

For deeds undone

Rnakle and snarl and hunger for their due,

Till there seems naught so despicable as you

In all the grin o' the sun.

William Ernest Henley

London Types: Bus Driver

He's called The General from the brazen craft

And dash with which he sneaks a bit of road

And all its fares; challenged, or chafed, or chaffed,

Back-answers of the newest he'll explode;

He reins his horses with an air; he treats

With scoffing calm whatever powers there be;

He gets it straight, puts a bit on, and meets

His losses with both lip and £ s. d.;

William Ernest Henley

A Thanksgiving

From brief delights that rise to me

Out of unfathomable dole,

I thank whatever gods there be

For mine unconquerable soul.

In the strong clutch of Circumstance

It has not winced, nor groaned aloud.

Before the blows of eyeless chance

My head is bloody, but unbowed.

William Ernest Henley

Bring Her Again, O Western Wind

Bring her again, O western wind,

Over the western sea!

Gentle and good and fair and kind,

Bring her again to me!

Not that her fancy holds me dear,

Not that a hope may be:

Only that I may know her near,

Wind of the western sea!

William Ernest Henley

Villanelle

A dainty thing's the Villanelle.

Sly, musical, a jewel in rhyme,

It serves its purpose passing well.

A doublc-clappered silver bell

That must be made to clink in chime,

A dainty thing's the Villanelle;

And if you wish to flute a spell,

Or ask a meeting 'neath the lime,

William Ernest Henley

The Ways Of Death Are Soothing And Serene

The ways of Death are soothing and serene,

And all the words of Death are grave and sweet.

From camp and church, the fireside and the street,

She beckons forth – and strife and song have been.

A summer night descending cool and green

And dark on daytime’s dust and stress and heat,

The ways of death are soothing and serene,

And all the words of Death are grave and sweet.

William Ernest Henley

A Love By The Sea

Out of the starless night that covers me,

(O tribulation of the wind that rolls!)

Black as the cloud of some tremendous spell,

The susurration of the sighing sea

Sounds like the sobbing whisper of two souls

That tremble in a passion of farewell.

To the desires that trebled life in me,

(O melancholy of the wind that rolls!)

William Ernest Henley

A Late Lark Twitters From The Quiet Skies

the quiet skies:

And from the west,

Where the sun, his day's work ended,

Lingers as in content,

There falls on the old, gray city

An influence luminous and serene,

A shining peace.

The smoke ascends

William Ernest Henley

Invictus: The Unconquerable

Out of the night that covers me,

Black as the Pit from pole to pole,

I thank whatever gods may be

For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance

I have not winced nor cried aloud,

Under the bludgeonings of chance

My head is bloody, but unbowed.

William Ernest Henley

Between The Dusk Of A Summer Night

Between the dusk of a summer night

And the dawn of a summer day,

We caught at a mood as it passed in flight,

And we bade it stoop and stay.

And what with the dawn of night began

With the dusk of day was done;

For that is the way of woman and man,

When a hazard has made them one.

William Ernest Henley