Crosses and Troubles….
July 6, 2023Between the Dusk of a Summer Night
July 6, 2023Croquis
The beach was crowded. Pausing now and then,
He groped and fiddled doggedly along,
His worn face glaring on the thoughtless throng
The stony peevishness of sightless men.
He seemed scarce older than his clothes. Again,
Grotesquing thinly many an old sweet song,
So cracked his fiddle, his hand so frail and wrong,
You hardly could distinguish one in ten.
He stopped at last, and sat him on the sand,
And, grasping wearily his bread-winner,
Staring dim towards the blue immensity,
Then leaned his head upon his poor old hand.
He may have slept: he did not speak nor stir:
His gesture spoke a vast despondency.
William Ernest Henley
William Ernest Henley (1849-1903) was an English poet, critic and editor, best known for his poem "Invictus." Henley's poetry often dealt with themes of struggle and adversity, drawing on his own experiences of illness and disability. He was a major figure in the English literary scene of the late 19th century, and his most famous works include "The Song of the Sword" and "London Types."