Helen of Troy And Other Poems (44)

    I am afraid, oh I am so afraid！ The cold black fear is clutching me tonight As long ago when they would take the light And leave the little child who would have prayed, Frozen and sleepless¹ at the thought of death. My heart that beats too fast will rest too soon； I shall not know if it be night or noon, —— Yet shall I struggle in the dark for breath？ Will no one fight the Terror for my sake, The heavy darkness that no dawn will break？ How can they leave me in that dark alone, Who loved the joy of light and warmth so much, And thrilled so with the sense of sound and touch, —— How can they shut me underneath² a stone？