William Ernest Henley

Echoes. 15. There Is a Wheel Inside My Head

There is a wheel inside my head
   Of wantonness and wine,
      An old, cracked fiddle is begging without,
But the wind with scents of the sea is fed,
   And the sun seems glad to shine.

The sun and the wind are akin to you,
   As you are akin to June.
      But the fiddle! . . . It giggles and twitters about,
And, love and laughter! who gave him the cue?—
   He’s playing your favourite tune.