Thomas Hardy: "I Have Lived With Shades"
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"I Have Lived With Shades"

6/2/1840-1/11/1928

I

I have lived with shades so long,
And talked to them so oft,
Since forth from cot and croft
I went mankind among,
         That sometimes they
         In their dim style
         Will pause awhile
         To hear my say;

II

And take me by the hand,
And lead me through their rooms
In the To-be, where Dooms
Half-wove and shapeless stand:
         And show from there
         The dwindled dust
         And rot and rust
         Of things that were.

III

"Now turn," spake they to me
One day: "Look whence we came,
And signify his name
Who gazes thence at thee." -
         --"Nor name nor race
         Know I, or can,"
         I said, "Of man
         So commonplace.

IV

"He moves me not at all;
I note no ray or jot
Of rareness in his lot,
Or star exceptional.
         Into the dim
         Dead throngs around
         He'll sink, nor sound
         Be left of him."

V

"Yet," said they, "his frail speech,
Hath accents pitched like thine -
Thy mould and his define
A likeness each to each -
         But go! Deep pain
         Alas, would be
         His name to thee,
         And told in vain!"

"O memory, where is now my youth,
Who used to say that life was truth?"

"I saw him in a crumbled cot
         Beneath a tottering tree;
That he as phantom lingers there
         Is only known to me."

"O Memory, where is now my joy,
Who lived with me in sweet employ?"

"I saw him in gaunt gardens lone,
         Where laughter used to be;
That he as phantom wanders there
         Is known to none but me."

"O Memory, where is now my hope,
Who charged with deeds my skill and scope?"

"I saw her in a tomb of tomes,
         Where dreams are wont to be;
That she as spectre haunteth there
         Is only known to me."

"O Memory, where is now my faith,
One time a champion, now a wraith?"

"I saw her in a ravaged aisle,
         Bowed down on bended knee;
That her poor ghost outflickers there
         Is known to none but me."

"O Memory, where is now my love,
That rayed me as a god above?"

"I saw him by an ageing shape
         Where beauty used to be;
That his fond phantom lingers there
         Is only known to me."


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