On the long shore, lit by the moon br To show them properly alone, br Two lovers suddenly embraced br So that their shadows were as one. br The ordinary night was graced br For them by the swift tide of blood br That silently they took at flood, br And for a little time they prized br Themselves emparadised. br br Then, as if shaken by stage-fright br Beneath the hard moon's bony light, br They stood together on the sand br Embarrassed in each other's sight br But still conspiring hand in hand, br Until they saw, there underfoot, br As though the world had found them out, br The goose fish turning up, though dead, br His hugely grinning head. br br There in the china light he lay, br Most ancient and corrupt and grey. br They hesitated at his smile, br Wondering what it seemed to say br To lovers who a little while br Before had thought to understand, br By violence upon the sand, br The only way that could be known br To make a world their own. br br It was a wide and moony grin br Together peaceful and obscene; br They knew not what he would express, br So finished a comedian br He might mean failure or success, br But took it for an emblem of br Their sudden, new and guilty love br To be observed by, when they kissed, br That rigid optimist. br br So he became their patriarch, br Dreadfully mild in the half-dark. br His throat that the sand seemed to choke, br His picket teeth, these left their mark br But never did explain the joke br That so amused him, lying there br While the moon went down to disappear br Along the still and tilted track br That bears the zodiac.