A year, a year, and then to miss

That which was all in all for aye;

O Love as fleeting as your kiss,

O Love forever and a day,

To this.

How such a change in one short year,

I cannot, cannot understand;

Oh, why to cast upon Love’s bier,

Whose name was written in the sand,

This tear?

Why, when the fields were red with May

When you and I together swore;

Is May so very far away,

Was all so different then, before

Today?

And did the gods above then smile

When we believed that love would last,

Counting its heart-beats on the dial

Of hours that have too soon slipped past,

The while.

Two boats upon a sea of glass—

A little strength, a little trust;

Yet let the hand of Fate but pass,

Could they withstand the storm-cloud’s gust,

Alas!

So, though not knowing, yet must I

Forget one day and feel no more

Your love, which dreamed not e’er to die.

Thank God for that—I close my door.

Good-bye.