Siegfried Sassoon (1886–1967). The Old Huntsman and Other Poems. 1918.

54. At Daybreak

I LISTEN for him through the rain,

And in the dusk of starless hours

I know that he will come again;

Loth was he ever to forsake me:

He comes with glimmering of flowers

And stir of music to awake me.

Spirit of purity, he stands

As once he lived in charm and grace:

I may not hold him with my hands,

Nor bid him stay to heal my sorrow;

Only his fair, unshadowed face

Abides with me until to-morrow.