In a chair beside the window father br With a straight back, the men playing in white br Are as mayflies on the great pond rather br On the dull skein of his dreaming sight br And the family are gathered quiet br In the darkened recesses of his thoughts br And they menace him with dread claw and bite br ‘til a sad spasm shows that he has fought; br A strong cable ties the brain together br Taut as the column holding legs and back br But when it goes it has gone forever br Freewheeling like a car whose handbrakes snapped br Heavily, dangerously, unrestrained, br Charging at windmills on some Spanish plain.