Possession

She has laid her snare

And her eyes hold midnight’s sign,

Like pools in a moonless land

Lit up by the stars that shine;

With her burning hair

She has bound you, strand by strand,

She holds your heart in her hand,

But your soul is mine.

She has set her feet

In a path where roses blow,

She plays with your heart, the sea

Plays thus with its dead below,

And the game is sweet;

But your soul is here with me,

O Man; it is yours and free—

But it cannot go.

We shall stand, we two,

And her lips shall hold the sum

Of notes in a syren’s tone,

But mine shall be closed and dumb;

And, the whole day through,

Shall her eyes allure your own,

But I will stand like a stone

And your soul shall come.