with a little pride; "My lover comes before the morn, And, if he find you, woe betide Beside the bay of Naples. "Now get you gone in very deed, While time is yet for you to go, Behold, I beg you at my need; How black the chilly waters flow Around the bay of Naples!" "Ah, do you think I am afraid," Said he, "of man that sees the light? If God himself command had laid To leave you, I should stay to-night." (Black was the bay of Naples). The trouble grew within her eyes, She seemed to feel, as in a dream, The ruling force in love that lies; She veiled the lamplight's yellow gleam From the black bay of Naples. "Ah me," she said, "you tarry yet, And late and chilly grows the night, To-morrow shall my lamp be set To guide you hither with its light," Across the bay of Naples. "To-morrow then, to-morrow's years. I will be yours, but go to-night." And dimly through the mist of tears She saw the crescent's line of white, High o'er the bay of Naples. "To-morrow for to-morrow be! To-night is all I ask and need, I cannot loose love's core," said he, "Once to my hand it has been freed" (Black was the bay of Naples). "Nay, death may follow love! 'Tis fit That life being empty, should be cast Carelessly into darkness' pit, Be one with all the life that's past" (Black was the bay of Naples). "Only compress the joy of years, Summers and seasons, nights and noons, To these short hours, where there appears, As of a mighty god that swoons, The sea's black arm round Naples. "Oh, black beneath us are the trees, And black the weary line of hills, With all life's joy, and light, and ease, This room your radiant presence fills" (Black was the bay of Naples). "And ah," said he, "I'll give my soul To lie beneath your foot in hell, That you may walk unscorched and whole— Can other lovers love so well?" (Black was the bay of Naples). She took his hand and drew him in. She quenched the lamplight's yellow gleam; The moon was like a sabre thin, The one white thing in all that dream Of black that lay on Naples.
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