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(…)

I pray thou shalt pass with ease—
From this dream to Edenian trees.
Alas! that when on thee fall the shadows,
Fruits and flowers shall be echoes,
Gathered once as once I wept before—
Fair as once they were no more.

Unheard tidings then wilt thou bring
In the silent calls that ring
From seas which lie between
Shores no mortal eye hath seen.
Alas! shall melancholy’s smile rejoice
In silence where once had been a voice.

The twilight of our hearts has flown.
I stand between the roses, alone.
No more shall the flowers bloom
With their kiss of such perfume
As reminds me of youth’s spring
When to me, thou wouldst sing.

Such lullabies I recall, and grieve,
As thou wouldst for me weave,
To sooth such woes as dwell,
Like in the shadow of Farewell,
And the rose which withers away,
Within my dreams by day.

The silken flame of life is spent,
The tidings on the wind are sent,
The lone ashes of what has past
A shadow o’er my heart shall cast
From embers by thy side, agleam
In lullabies of a sepulcheral dream.

© 2021 Marten Hoyle