Now I am a plant, a weed,
Bending and
On a rocky ledge;
And now I am a long brown
Fluttering like flame;
I am a reed;
An old shell
For ever the same;
A drift of sedge;
A white, white stone;
A bone;
Until I
Into sand again,
And spin and
To and fro, to and fro,
On the edge of the
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
Disguised ourselves as weed and stones and
While the strange ships did
Gently, gravely, leaving a curl of
That uncurled softly about our island home,
Bubbles of foam that glittered on the
Like rainbows? Look, darling! No, they are gone.
And the white sails have melted into the sailing sky…
