Selected Poems

by Oscar Wilde

With open mouth he drank the sun As though it had been wine!

Like two doomed ships that pass in storm We had crossed each other's way: But we made no sign, we said no word, We had no word to say;

Something was dead in each of us, And what was dead was Hope.

Then suddenly the tune went false, The dancers wearied of the waltz, The shadows ceased to wheel and whirl. And down the long and silent street, The dawn, with silver-sandalled feet, Crept like a frightened girl.