1914, and Other Poems

<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</SPAN></span></p> <div class="poem"><span class="i0 headstyle">HOME</span></div> <div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">I came back late and tired last night<br/></span> <span class="i1">Into my little room,<br/></span> <span class="i0">To the long chair and the firelight<br/></span> <span class="i1">And comfortable gloom.<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">But as I entered softly in<br/></span> <span class="i1">I saw a woman there,<br/></span> <span class="i0">The line of neck and cheek and chin,<br/></span> <span class="i1">The darkness of her hair,<br/></span> <span class="i0">The form of one I did not know<br/></span> <span class="i1">Sitting in my chair.<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">I stood a moment fierce and still,<br/></span> <span class="i1">Watching her neck and hair.<br/></span> <span class="i0">I made a step to her; and saw<br/></span> <span class="i1">That there was no one there.<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">It was some trick of the firelight<br/></span> <span class="i1">That made me see her there.<br/></span> <span class="i0">It was a chance of shade and light<br/></span> <span class="i1">And the cushion in the chair.<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">Oh, all you happy over the earth,<br/></span> <span class="i1">That night, how could I sleep?<br/></span> <span class="i0">I lay and watched the lonely gloom;<br/></span> <span class="i1">And watched the moonlight creep<br/></span> <span class="i0">From wall to basin, round the room.<br/></span> <span class="i1">All night I could not sleep.<br/></span></div> </div> <hr class="large" /> <div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />