THE ABSINTHE DRINKER.GENTLY I wave the visible world away.Far off, I hear a roar, afar yet near,Far off and strange, a voice is in my ear,And is the voice my own? the words I sayFall strangely, like a dream, across the day;And the dim sunshine is a dream. How clear,New as the world to lovers’ eyes, appearThe men and women passing on their way!The world is very fair. The hours are allLinked in a dance of mere forgetfulness.I am at peace with God and man. O glide,Sands of the hour-glass that I count not, fallSerenely: scarce I feel your soft caress.Rocked on this dreamy and indifferent tide.
GENTLY I wave the visible world away.Far off, I hear a roar, afar yet near,Far off and strange, a voice is in my ear,And is the voice my own? the words I sayFall strangely, like a dream, across the day;And the dim sunshine is a dream. How clear,New as the world to lovers’ eyes, appearThe men and women passing on their way!
The world is very fair. The hours are allLinked in a dance of mere forgetfulness.I am at peace with God and man. O glide,Sands of the hour-glass that I count not, fallSerenely: scarce I feel your soft caress.Rocked on this dreamy and indifferent tide.