George Meredith - A Ballad of Past Meridian lyrics

I Last night returning from my twilight walk I met the grey mist d**h, whose eyeless brow Was bent on me, and from his hand of chalk He reached me flowers as from a withered bough: O d**h, what bitter nosegays givest thou! II d**h said, I gather, and pursued his way. Another stood by me, a shape in stone, Sword-hacked and iron-stained, with breasts of clay, And metal veins that sometimes fiery shone: O Life, how naked and how hard when known! III Life said, As thou hast carved me, such am I. Then memory, like the nightjar on the pine, And sightless hope, a woodlark in night sky, Joined notes of d**h and Life till night's decline Of d**h, of Life, those inwound notes are mine.