SINCE there is no escape, since at the end br My body will be utterly destroyed, br This hand I love as I have loved a friend, br This body I tended, wept with and enjoyed; br Since there is no escape even for me br Who love life with a love too sharp to bear: br The scent of orchards in the rain, the sea br And hours alone too still and sure for prayer— br Since darkness waits for me, then all the more br Let me go down as waves sweep to the shore br In pride; and let me sing with my last breath; br In these few hours of light I lift my head; br Life is my lover—I shall leave the dead br If there is any way to baffle death.