In starlight, by the ghostly sea,
We ran, we loitered, hand in hand,
Along the lone, unending strand;
Where, flowing in the surf-wet sand,
The wan stars raced or paused as we.

Aloof we seemed, from time and change,
Like runes a magian might unroll
Upon some old unfading scroll,
Or phantoms loosed from earthly dole
In starry freedom, lone and strange.

Some great, unspoken gramarie
Had exorcised that incubus,
The world, that fell away from us. . . .
Reborn, and dear, and perilous,
The past arose beside the sea.

Returning in that mystic hour,
Above us hovered many a night
That had your eyes alone for light:
Full-petaled, past all worldly blight,
Love bloomed an amaranthine flower.

In starlight, by the ghostly sea,
I caught and kissed you as of yore;
We ran, we tarried, as before;
Where, flowing on the surf-wet shore,
The wan stars raced or paused as we.