As I Walked Out One Evening
As I walked out one evening,Walking down Bristol Street,The crowds upon the pavementWere fields of harvest wheat. And down by the brimming riverI heard a lover singUnder an arch of the railway:'Love has no ending. 'I'll love you, dear, I'll love youTill China and Africa meet,And the river jumps over the mountainAnd the salmon sing in the street, 'I'll love you till the oceanIs folded and hung up to dryAnd the seven stars go squawkingLike geese about the sky. 'The years shall run like rabbits,For in my arms I holdThe Flower of the Ages,And the first love of the world.' But all the clocks in the cityBegan to whirr and chime:'O let not Time deceive you,You cannot conquer Time. 'In the burrows of the NightmareWhere Justice naked is,Time watches from the shadowAnd coughs when you would kiss. 'In headaches and in worryVaguely life leaks away,And Time will have his fancyTo-morrow or to-day. 'Into many a green valleyDrifts the appalling snow;Time breaks the threaded dancesAnd the diver's brilliant bow. 'O plunge your hands in water,Plunge them in up to the wrist;Stare, stare in the basinAnd wonder what you've missed. 'The glacier knocks in the cupboard,The desert sighs in the bed,And the crack in the tea-cup opensA lane to the land of the dead. 'Where the beggars raffle the banknotesAnd the Giant is enchanting to Jack,And the Lily-white Boy is a Roarer,And Jill goes down on her back. 'O look, look in the mirror,O look in your distress:Life remains a blessingAlthough you cannot bless. 'O stand, stand at the windowAs the tears scald and start;You shall love your crooked neighbourWith your crooked heart.' It was late, late in the evening,The lovers they were gone;The clocks had ceased their chiming,And the deep river ran on.