34. Les Silhouettes. Wilde, Oscar. 1881. Poems

Oscar Wilde (1854–1900). Poems. 1881.

34. Les Silhouettes

THE sea is flecked with bars of grey
The dull dead wind is out of tune,
And like a withered leaf the moon
Is blown across the stormy bay.

Etched clear upon the pallid sand	5
The black boat lies: a sailor boy
Clambers aboard in careless joy
With laughing face and gleaming hand.

And overhead the curlews cry,
Where through the dusky upland grass	10
The young brown-throated reapers pass,
Like silhouettes against the sky.