Nocturne - a poem by Eugene O Neill






The sunset gun booms out in hollow roar

Night breathes upon the waters of the bay

The river lies, a symphony in grey,

Melting in shadow on the further shore.



A sullen coal barge tugs its anchor chain

A shadow sinister, with one faint light

Flickering wanly in the dim twilight,

It lies upon the harbor like a stain.



Silence. Then through the stillness rings

The fretful echo of a seagull's scream,

As if one cried who sees within a dream

Deep rooted sorrow in the heart of things.



The cry that Sorrow knows and would complain

And impotently struggle to express --

Some secret shame, some hidden bitterness --

Yet evermore must sing the same refrain.



Silence once more. The air seems in a swoon

Beneath the heavens' thousand opening eyes

While from the far horizon's edge arise

The first faint silvery tresses of the moon.