There is a place that some men know, br I cannot see the whole of it br Nor how I came there. Long ago br Flame burst out of a secret pit br Crushing the world with such a light br The day-sky fell to moonless black, br The kingly sun to hateful night br For those, once seeing, turning back: br For love so hates mortality br Which is the providence of life br She will not let it blessed be br But curses it with mortal strife, br Until beside the blinding rood br Within that world-destroying pit br -Like young wolves that have tasted blood, br Of death, men taste no more of it. br So blind, in so severe a place br (All life before in the black grave) br The last alternatives they face br Of life, without the life to save, br Being from all salvation weaned- br A stag charged both at heel and head: br Who would come back is turned a fiend br Instructed by the fiery dead.