As on a Dusky Arras

As on a dusky arras,
The Lords of Shadow go,
With vague and tremulous movement,
Passing to and fro.

Some with crownéd helmets,
Pale or ruby gold,
Some with cross and crozier,
Shepherds of the fold,

Some with flowing gesture,
Some in silence white,
Lovers pale but glowing still
With a wan delight.

They drift and pass and vanish,
And my heart streams there
In shapes of unknown beauty
Upon the twilight air;

But lest I too turn shadow,
And fall in flaming dew,
Before the outworn vesture
Be fit for senses new,

I part the dusky arras,
Where, passing to and fro,
With vague and tremulous movement,
The Lords of Shadow go.