3

I counted the fall of her feet

from turret to turret;

will the count even yesterday's?

will there be five over?

this was a game I played,

a game of prophecy;

if she turns and shields her eyes,

gazing over the plain - yes -;

if she waits as she waited

day before yesterday

for ten heart-beats

before the second gate - no -;

what was the question

to which she gave the answer

with the measured fall of her feet,

or her pause over the rampart

that bridged the iron-gate?

shall we strike as my legions had struck,

first through the long fight,

or shall we take the second place

and leave the Trojan's fate to Odysseus?

did the Command read backward?

I stooped to fasten a greave

that was loosed at the ankle,

when she turned; I stood

indifferent to the rasp of metal,

and her eyes met mine;

you say, I could not see her eyes

across the field of battle,

I could not see their light

shimmering as light on the changeable sea?

all things would change but never

the glance she exchanged with me.

H.D., Helen in Egypt, New Directions, s.d. (1961, 1ªed.)