Eyes are tired;
The lamp burns,
And in its circle of light
Papers and books lie
Where chance and life
Have placed them.

Silence sings all around me;
My head is bound with a band;
Outside in the street, a few footsteps;
A clock strikes the hour.

I gaze, and my eyes close,
Slowly:

I doze; but the moment before sleep,
A voice calls my name
In my ear,
And the shock jolts my heart;
But when I open my eyes,
And look, first left, and then right ...

No one is there.