Far hills and the faint fringes of the sky

Shimmered and pulsed in the heat uneasily,

And hidden in the grass, cicadas shrill

Dizzied the air with ceaseless noise, until

A listener might wonder if they cried

In his own head or in the world outside.

Sometimes she shut her eyelids, and wrapped round

In a red darkness, with the muffled sound

And throb of blood beating within her brain,

Savoured intensely to the verge of pain