Page:Collected poems Robinson, Edwin Arlington.djvu/369

 Therefore he skipped and flew
 * The more along,

Vivid and always new
 * And always wrong,

Knowing his only clew
 * A siren song.

Careless of each and all
 * He gave and spent:

Feast or a funeral
 * He laughed and went,

Laughing to be so small
 * In the event.

Told of his own deceit
 * By many a tongue,

Flayed for his long defeat
 * By being young,

Lured by the fateful sweet
 * Of songs unsung—

Knowing it in his heart,
 * But knowing not

The secret of an art
 * That few forgot,

He played the twinkling part
 * That was his lot.

And when the twinkle died,
 * As twinkles do,

He pushed himself aside
 * And out of view:

Out with the wind and tide,
 * Before we knew.