Night! Night! Eternal Night, whose black vapors have filled all the sluiceways of Time—Night! ageless and void, seamless and bald:
Night upgurgling from chaos, upswirl of the noumenal seas, drape me and veil me from the illusory lights of this world!
My being's at nadir,
I pass into my solstice,
I have touched of ITS garment, the black thing IT weaves on ITS sentient looms, ITS great blouse of black which encircles the world fold upon fold—
While we crawl in ITS creases and guess.
Sit I in the night of ITS sleeve,
Withering into eternities,
Bowed in ITS night, in ITS night!
Publication History
- The Shadow-Eater [1915/17 and 1923]
- “Poems of a Shadow Eater” (syndicated review with several poems included)
- Text changes:
- [no stanza breaks]
- sluiceways > sluice-ways
- ageless and void, seamless and bald: > pageless and void;
- ITS great blouse of black which encircles the world fold upon fold— > [omitted]
1923 Edition Text Changes
- [Throughout: IT > It and ITS > Its]
- Night, whose > Night, ⁋ whose
- Time—Night! > Time— ⁋ Night!
- chaos, upswirl > chaos, ⁋ Upswirl
- seas, drape > seas, ⁋ Drape
- garment, the black > garment, ⁋ The black
- looms, ITS > looms, ⁋ Its
