And doom eternal—only your hand I felt,

Reached to me in the darkness—yet it seemed

In your hand’s touch I touched your very self,

Your very presence, changeable, careless, wild—

But O how poignant—sharp with all delight,

And gracious with dear bounties to bestow,

How greatly granted! Drowsily then at last,

In the old way, you begged me for some legend

Out of my boyhood’s record, some romance

From the far world that bore me; and my voice,