WHEN ?

Some night we shall come here
For the last time,
Hear the last whippoorwill,
Watch the last firefly,
See the last hill
Die into the darkness,
Ere is made the moon.
Some night we shall come here ...
Shall it be soon?

Some night we shall come here,
Then — nevermore.
One of us shall have gone,
Over earth's last hill,
Infinitely on:
Out into a Vastness
Whence a lesser glow
Even than the firefly's
Back to us can flow.

Some night we shall come here,
Then the one left
Shall not dare hark again,
Or upon the stars gaze,
But shrink, bereft,
Backward from the heartbreak
Hid in memory.
Some night we shall come here
When shall it be?