That City

Shall we dance, Giacomo,in the rain
in the square where the powdered wigs and masks
make the stuccoes and fireworks look plain
Shall we leap to the music as if asked
by the  Doge, golden robed,to  alight
Shall we take this and make it our night
Shall we dance?

Shall we dance, Giacomo, and seduce
Each maschero passing by with a smile
shall we run through the arches and amuse
those sweet lovers watching us for a while
Then to pause, in a garden unseen,
And consider all we are and might have been
Shall we dance?

Shall we dance,Giacomo, though we are
all that's left of the Ever Shining Court
We who gleam with the puissance of a star
That falls once and can never more be bought;
Where the music sounds out of the deep
And even the stones cannot sleep,
Shall we dance?