TURANTOD

Princes came from their distant quit
& offered Turantod 'the earth!'

but her price none could meet:

Each Prince she asks: "Your worth!"

The last one: "Permanence!
O Princess, and I offer you Innocence
again--Which is what you want."

She: "Who can that grant?"

He: "One absolute offense:

You will not find
(what you seek) by Mind
or Heart. It exists but

in th'bottomless pit of a single cut
severing Th'Balance that holds
in integrity--Life! that folds
eternally ( in a momentary
wave of moonlight) over a brief cemetery."

"It is for you I have put away
my life!" said Th'Princess Turantod

as she was giving him her yea,
& stumbling into her irrecoverable nod:

"O you so fathomless (a) guest

who with such mystery alone have won me:
tell me your name..."       

             And he:

"Princess, you know I'm Death: At your behest
come here. Whom you by others' noble names
couldn't summon, & so

finally called by th'most common.

That's how All comes to be the same
here in th'world of less & less."