| |
| THAT strange companion came on shuffling feet, | |
| Passed me, then turned, and touched my arm. | |
| |
| He said (and he was melancholy, | |
| And both of us looked fretfully, | |
| And slowly we advanced together), | 5 |
| He said: “I bring you your inheritance.” | |
| |
| I watched his eyes; they were dim. | |
| I doubted him, watched him, doubted him … | |
| But, in a ceremonious way, | |
| He said: “You are too grey: | 10 |
| Come, you must be merry for a day.” | |
| |
| And I, because my heart was dumb, | |
| Because the life in me was numb, | |
| Cried: “I will come. I will come.” | |
| |
| So, without another word, | 15 |
| We two jaunted on the street. | |
| I had heard, often heard, | |
| The shuffling of those feet of his, | |
| The shuffle of his feet. | |
| |
| And he muttered in my ear | 20 |
| Such a wheezy jest | |
| As a man may often hear— | |
| Not the worst, not the best | |
| That a man may hear. | |
| |
| Then he murmured in my face | 25 |
| Something that was true. | |
| He said: “I have known this long, long while, | |
| All there is to know of you.” | |
| And the light of the lamp cut a strange smile | |
| On his face, and we muttered along the street, | 30 |
| Good enough friends, on the usual beat. | |
| |
| We lived together long, long. | |
| We were always alone, he and I. | |
| We never smiled with each other; | |
| We were like brother and brother, | 35 |
| Dimly accustomed. | |
| Can a man know | |
| Why he must live, or where he should go? | |
| |
| He brought me that joke or two, | |
| And we roared with laughter, for want of a smile, | 40 |
| As every man in the world might do. | |
| He who lies all night in bed | |
| Is a fool, and midnight will crush his head. | |
| |
| When he threw a glass of wine in my face | |
| One night, I hit him, and we parted; | 45 |
| But in a short space | |
| We came back to each other melancholy-hearted, | |
| Told our pain, | |
| Swore we would not part again. | |
| |
| One night we turned a table over | 50 |
| The body of some slain fool to cover, | |
| And all the company clapped their hands; | |
| So we spat in their faces, | |
| And travelled away to other lands. | |
| |
| I wish for every man he find | 55 |
| A strange companion so | |
| Completely to his mind | |
| With whom he everywhere may go. | |
| |
