Man Against the Sky: A Book of Poems

<h2> The Dark House </h2> <p>Where a faint light shines alone,<br/> Dwells a Demon I have known.<br/> Most of you had better say<br/> "The Dark House", and go your way.<br/> Do not wonder if I stay.<br/> <br/> For I know the Demon's eyes,<br/> And their lure that never dies.<br/> Banish all your fond alarms,<br/> For I know the foiling charms<br/> Of her eyes and of her arms,<br/> <br/> And I know that in one room<br/> Burns a lamp as in a tomb;<br/> And I see the shadow glide,<br/> Back and forth, of one denied<br/> Power to find himself outside.<br/> <br/> There he is who is my friend,<br/> Damned, he fancies, to the end&mdash;<br/> Vanquished, ever since a door<br/> Closed, he thought, for evermore<br/> On the life that was before.<br/> <br/> And the friend who knows him best<br/> Sees him as he sees the rest<br/> Who are striving to be wise<br/> While a Demon's arms and eyes<br/> Hold them as a web would flies.<br/> <br/> All the words of all the world,<br/> Aimed together and then hurled,<br/> Would be stiller in his ears<br/> Than a closing of still shears<br/> On a thread made out of years.<br/> <br/> But there lives another sound,<br/> More compelling, more profound;<br/> There's a music, so it seems,<br/> That assuages and redeems,<br/> More than reason, more than dreams.<br/> <br/> There's a music yet unheard<br/> By the creature of the word,<br/> Though it matters little more<br/> Than a wave-wash on a shore&mdash;<br/> Till a Demon shuts a door.<br/> <br/> So, if he be very still<br/> With his Demon, and one will,<br/> Murmurs of it may be blown<br/> To my friend who is alone<br/> In a room that I have known.<br/> <br/> After that from everywhere<br/> Singing life will find him there;<br/> Then the door will open wide,<br/> And my friend, again outside,<br/> Will be living, having died.<br/></p> <p><SPAN name="link2H_4_0021" id="link2H_4_0021"></SPAN></p> <br/> <div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />