At Delos / Duncan Campbell Scott

At Delos

An iris-flower with topaz leaves
With a dark heart of deeper gold,
Died over Delos when light failed
And the night grew cold.

No wave fell mourning in the sea
Where age on age beauty had died,
For that frail colour withering away
No seabird cried.

There is no grieving in the world
As beauty fades throughout the years;
The pilgrim with the weary heart
Brings to the grave his tears.

---
Duncan Campbell Scott
from The Circle of Affection, 1947

[Poem is in the public domain in Canada]

Duncan Campbell Scott biography