Dedication
Lola Ridge
I would be a torch unto your hand, A lamp upon your forehead, Labor, In the wild darkness before the Dawn That I shall never see… We shall advance together, my Beloved, Awaiting the mighty ushering… Together we shall make the last grand charge And ride with gorgeous Death With all her spangles on And cymbals clashing… And you shall rush on exultant as I fall— Scattering a brief fire about your feet… Let it be so… Better—while life is quick And every pain immense and joy supreme, And all I have and am Flames upward to the dream… Than like a taper forgotten in the dawn, Burning out the wick.
