IT will do no good to lie.
Hold your eyelids wide. Look straight.
Stare — Stare — Nor deny
The hard dim thing you hate.
This is you, alone and old.
Yes, — she has no loveliness.
Yes, — she stumbles and is cold
In that thick black dress.
Say not, ‘ She is none of mine —
Husk of a life, unloved, unknown.’
Stare — Stare — Learn each line
Of fading for your own.
You, who sit behind the eyes,
Juggling life and judging death,
Too immortal and too wise
To fail with failing breath, —
Soul! — Soul! — Voyager
Of wild unclaimed Eternity! —
Face her! Never pity her!
You alone can set her free!