William Ernest Henley

Rhymes and Rhythms. 6. One with the Ruined Sunset

One with the ruined sunset,
   The strange forsaken sands,
What is it waits, and wanders,
   And signs with desparate hands?

What is it calls in the twilight—
   Calls as its chance were vain?
The cry of a gull sent seaward
   Or the voice of an ancient pain?

The red ghost of the sunset,
   It walks them as its own,
These dreary and desolate reaches . . .
   But O, that it walked alone!