LIII

The dark swallows will return
To hang their nests upon your balcony,
And, once again, with their wings at its windowpanes
They will knock in play.

But those that checked their flight
To gaze upon your beauty and my joy,
Those that had learned our names...
Those... will not return!

The thick honeysuckles will return
To climb the walls around your garden,
And once again at dusk, more lovely still,
Their flowers will unfold;

But those, laden with dew,
Whose drops we watched tremble
And fall, like tears of the day...
Those... will not return!

Love's ardent words will return
To sound within your ears;
From its deep sleep your heart
Perhaps will wake;

But silent and absorbed and on my knees,
As God is worshipped before his altar,
As I have loved you... be undeceived,
They will not love you so!