From 'As I Walked Out One Evening' - W.H. Auden

'In headaches and in worry 

Vaguely life leaks away, 

And Time will have his fancy 

To-morrow or to-day. 

'Into many a green valley 

Drifts the appalling snow; 

Time breaks the threaded dances 

And the diver's brilliant bow. 

'O plunge your hands in water, 

Plunge them in up to the wrist; 

Stare, stare in the basin 

And wonder what you've missed. 

'The glacier knocks in the cupboard, 

The desert sighs in the bed, 

And the crack in the tea-cup opens 

A lane to the land of the dead. 

'Where the beggars raffle the banknotes

And the Giant is enchanting to Jack, 

And the Lily-white Boy is a Roarer, 

And Jill goes down on her back. 

'O look, look in the mirror, 

O look in your distress: 

Life remains a blessing 

Although you cannot bless. 

'O stand, stand at the window 

As the tears scald and start; 

You shall love your crooked neighbour 

With your crooked heart.'

It was late, late in the evening,

The lovers they were gone; 

The clocks had ceased their chiming, 

And the deep river ran on.