Shapes and Shadows — Which

WHICH?

The wind was on the forest, And silence on the wold;

And darkness on the waters, And heaven was starry cold;

When Sleep, with mystic magic, Bade me this thing behold: This side, an iron woodland;

That side, an iron waste;

And heaven, a tower of iron, Wherein the wan moon paced, Still as a phantom woman, Ice-eyed and icy-faced.

And through the haunted tower Of silence and of night, My Soul and I went only, My Soul, whose face was white, Whose one hand signed me listen, One bore a taper-light.

For, lo!

a voice behind me Kept sighing in my ear The dreams my flesh accepted, My mind refused to hear-- Of one I loved and loved not, Whose spirit now spake near.

And, lo!

a voice before me Kept calling constantly The hopes my mind accepted, My flesh refused to see-- Of one I loved and loved not, Whose spirit spake to me.

This way the one would bid me;

This way the other saith:-- Sweet is the voice behind me Of LIFE that followeth;

And sweet the voice before me Of LIFE whose name is DEATH.