She is most fair,
And when they see her pass
The poets’ ladies
Look no more in the glass
5 But after her.
On a bleak moor
Running under the moon
She lures a poet,
Once proud or happy, soon
10 Far from his door.
Beside a train,
Because they saw her go,
Or failed to see her,
Travellers and watchers know
15 Another pain.
The simple lack
Of her is more to me
Than others’ presence,
Whether life splendid be
20 Or utter black.
I have not seen,
I have no news of her;
I can tell only
She is not here, but there
25 She might have been.
She is to be kissed
Only perhaps by me;
She may be seeking
Me and no other: she
30 May not exist.