Darkness

This is a darkness I have never known
that craves oblivion, that craves only sleep.
I would not suffer you to walk alone.

This is a darkness which in blood and bone
spreads like a stain, both unerasable and deep.
This is a darkness I have never known.

In days when hearts were cold as anchor-stones
and joy was what we grasped but could not keep
I would not suffer you to walk alone.

This is a darkness where no lamp has shone
where every river's wide, each mountain steep.
This is a darkness I have never known.

In days of summer, when the dark had flown
and only memory could make me weep
I would not suffer you to walk alone.

Dear heart, how often have I heard you moan
while you beside me lay in troubled sleep.
There, in a darkness I have never known,
still I will not suffer you to walk alone.