FLAME

It is the dead hour of a coal-black night;

But far away,

In a house,

I've seen a flame so bright!

Who lit it up? why?-

Under this dark dark sky?

I guess she was a mother,

Sitting beside a lamp, who

Cradled her child

And said,"Oh son! Let me put out the light.

Won't you sleep?

Won't you close your eyes?

I am sleepy; at dawn, I have to rise."

I guess he was a youth

Too busy in making love;

While the maid whispered,

"I am shy.Oh dear,turn off the light."

Perhaps the youth answered,

"For God's sake hold your tongue,

Don't ruin the passion of a heart so young".

I guess he was an old man

Ceaselessly looking at a candle;

Unmoved, he sat and thought-

Trembling in fear of being quenched,

How horribly similar became

His own life and the quivering flame.

Who lit it up and why,

I shall never know.

Even so, in the safest and secret

Chamber of my memory

It will glow and glow!