Erotica/Stay, Oh Day

by Arthur Clark Kennedy

Stay, Oh Day

Day is lying dying,
Comes the night.
Fate is flying, flying,
Take thou hold of fate,
Or at least by trying
To arrest his flight,
A short respite buying,
Still there may be light,
And too late
Comes the night.

Doth Love but live in daylight?
Love is blind.
Daylight or the dark
Love's electric spark
Makes Earth's darkness bright.
Night is day—day, night,
Equal in his sight,
Love is blind.

Still night will come at last,
And the skies
Denser shadows cast
Where Love lies,
Surfeited and weary,
While the twilight dreary
Deepens, darkens, dies.
Life and love are past
At the last.