Charles River Nocturne

Reflecting remote swords, chilled in the calm

And liquid darkness, lights on the esplanade

Prolong the night’s edge downward all night long

To those whose nostrils ache with the strong darkness,

Those who in hunger press against the waters

Those without birth or death, to whom the cold

Ocean long laboring in her regal womb

Whispers a word of foam.

                                The lavish cars

Move westward in an eddy and dance of shadow

Under the dazed lamps on the lifeless shore.  

（1931）