Dearest, when I left your side, br I stood a moment, hesitating, br And plunged. The boiling tide br Of darkness took me, and down I went br Swift as a bird with folded wing, br And upward sent br The bubbles of my vital breath br That shuddered from my secret deeps br To freedom and light; br Then, dimly, on my sight br Opened the still abode of living death. br Amid the mire, br In which invisibly sightless horror creeps, br Sat, each intent on his own woe, br The host that burns with inward fire, br Crowded like monuments of memorial stone br Beneath a pitchy sky br Where even the flash of tempest dare not show, br Yet each of them alone; br And each was I. br br II br br Breathless I struggled up, br As if the gloom had arms to clutch at me br And drag and hold, br Until the daylight’s gold br Shook faintly above my dizzy head br And parted suddenly, that I might see br The sky, a sheltering cup br Of hopeful azure, and your eyes of blue, br One promise and yet two br Of harbouring bliss; br And your lips parted and said, br “Shall not we twain br Find joy upon joy on earth br Together and see, br In the kinship of all that has birth br From the mutual reach of desire, br A joy beyond this, br A fire at the heart of the fire?” br And we clung till our spirit was free br As the flame of a kiss. br br III br br So we soared and the earth fell away, and the region of night br Was melted in limitless day of ineffable light br Till the myriad souls of the dead were united as we, br Themselves, and yet merged in the spread of an infinite sea br The joy that is life, and around us, below and above, br The One that all lovers have found, our eternity, Love.