Gone with the Swallows
by Ameen Rihani (1876-1940)
Must I convey at last the news to thee?Must I now mourn the love that lived in me? Gone with the autumn, with the dying year. Gone with the kisses that are yet so near!Gone with the swallows somewhere o’er the sea!But with the Spring will he againReturn, will he with me remain? Must I till then, remembering naught, Forgetting all that love had brought, Grope in the shadows of the slain? Must I forget the day That took my love away, And all the happy hours That reared for him their towers And crowned him with the flowers Of all the queens of May? Must I alone My once my own, In my retreat The new year greet, And winter meet, And winds hear moan? Not yet Can I Forget; But why One clings And sings To things That die?
