Extract from the Prelude

• trouble to my dreams
• Of sea or sky
• no pleasant images of trees
• There hung a darkness
• my brain Worked with a dim and undetermined sense
• With trembling oars I turned
• the grim shape Towered up between me and the stars, and still,
• the grim shape
• The horizon's bound, a huge peak, black and huge,
• heaving through the water like a swan;
• With an unswerving line
• Proud of his skill
• sparkling light
• they melted all
• glittering idly in the moon
• Leaving behind her still, on either side
• troubled pleasure
• act of stealth
• A little boat tied to a willow tree
• One summer evening (led by her)