As I walked out one evening - W. H Auden ( Stripped Version

As I walked out one evening,
down Bristol Street,
crowds lie on the pavement
And down by the river

Listening to a lover singing
Under an arch of the railway:
‘Love has no ending.

‘I’ll love you, dear, I’ll love you
Till China and Africa meet,
And the river jumps
And the salmon sing,

‘I’ll love you till the ocean
Is hung up to dry
And the seven stars go squawking
Like geese about the sky.

‘The years shall run,
For in my arms I hold
The Flower of the Ages,
And the first love of the world.'

But all the clocks in the city
Began to whirr and chime:
‘O let not Time deceive you,
You cannot conquer Time.

‘In the burrows of the Nightmare
Where Justice naked is,
Time watches from the shadow
And coughs when you would kiss.

‘In headaches and in worry
Vaguely life leaks away,
And Time will have his fancy
To-morrow or to-day.

‘Into many a green valley
Drifts the appalling snow;
Time breaks the threaded dances
And the diver’s bow

‘O look, look in the mirror,
O look in your distress:
Life remains a blessing
Although you cannot bless.

It was late, late in the evening,
The lovers they were gone;
The clocks had ceased their chiming,
And the deep river ran on.