Aldeburgh Night

Shall I sleep no more this night

Such dreams I had have taken flight

Yet succour slips its’ comfort fold

Grasping strands at midnight’s hold

In any scene, or hope or dream

Faint ebbs and flow of whispered surf

Hushed with ghostly air

Catch fleeting hues of shadow grey

This night without a care

So far, so east, a distant shelf

Of pebbled step and scalloped wealth

Yet silent soft and twilight blue

They sleep whilst safe and sound

Grey-green laps on sparkling troughs

Whilst silver flecks a starlit cold

And misty Alde meanders on

Vouch secrets old not told

But yet this gentle land conspires

To hold and stay my flight

And wonder at the dawns’ caress

To end my Aldeburgh night