The soft pad of those stealthy feet that go

Over my body’s prison to and fro,

Trying the walls forever without rest.

All day I feed him with my living heart;

But when the night puts forth her dreams and stars,

The inexorable Frenzy reawakes:

His wrath is hurled upon the trembling bars,

The eternal passion stretches me apart,

And I lie silent—but my body shakes.