MY little love, my
darling,
You were a
doorway to me;
You
let me out of the confines
Into this strange countrie,
Where people are crowded like
thistles,
Yet are
shapely and comely to see.
My little love, my
dearest
Twice have
you issued me,
Once
from your womb, sweet mother,
Once from myself, to be
Free of all hearts, my
darling,
Of each
heart’s home-life free.
And so, my love, my
mother,
I shall
always be true to you;
Twice I am born, my dearest,
To life, and to death, in
you;
And this is the
life hereafter
Wherein I am true.
I kiss you good-bye, my
darling,
Our ways
are different now;
You are a seed in the night-time,
I am a man, to plough
The difficult glebe of the
future
For God to
endow.
I kiss you good-bye, my
dearest,
It is
finished between us here.
Oh, if I were calm as you are,
Sweet and still on your
bier!
God, if I had
not to leave you
Alone, my dear!
Let the last word be
uttered,
Oh grant
the farewell is said!
Spare me the strength to leave you
Now you are dead.
I must go, but my soul lies
helpless
Beside your
bed.