There was no candle

 

There was no candle or street light.

I saw no moon or star.

Branches scrawled blackly in every direction.

There was no light in the forest.

 

There were tapers and tea-lights

stone lanterns and storm lamps.
There were lights in great numbers

all through the forest.

 

I saw beings of great beauty, high in the treetops,

but they shed no light on the darkness.

The path plunged on, from darkest to darker.

There was no light in the forest.

 

There were oil-lamps and elf-lights,

there were candles in jam-jars.

One strand of gold glimmered unbroken

in the darkest parts of the forest.

 

I stumbled in darkness all through the forest.

 

I followed the golden thread all through the forest.

 

In light or darkness we travelled through the forest.

 

In light and darkness we travelled through the forest.

 

 

Clair Mullineaux