Читать книгу I Heard a Sailor - Wilfrid Wilson Gibson - Страница 19

Table of Contents

The chestnut-blossom fell

In the dark waters of the well

As, crouching on the coping-stone, he hearkened

To catch the first note of the passing-bell.

The blossom, white and red,

Floats lightly where it falls, he said—

But there are drowning deeps in those dark waters

For him who plunges boldly without dread.

One passing-bell, said he—

One bell shall serve for her and me,

To speed our souls upon their way together

Through the dark portals of eternity.

But, even as he dreamed,

Thicklier the falling blossom streamed

Down the well-shaft and, settling on the water,

Like the white body of his love it seemed:

And, shot with sudden dread

As the first note boomed overhead,

He shrank from plunging through that drift of blossom,

And home, with fingers in his ears, he fled.