by Luis G. Dato
As when the sun descending from the west
Withdraws from dusky earth her warming ray,
And twilight’s rose the fond eyes cannot stay,
But leaves within the heart a sigh compressed;
Or, as when after sullen days at night,
We dream of fair things, all that came to be,
And dawn returning, we feel pain lest sight
Of what we dreamed again we may not see;
So, my soul, the vain, long years that passed
Have taken from the days the dreams held dear,
The ways, the fields, the skies are overcast,
And night eternal wraps the aging year:
Ah, I have known of love alone the fear
Of having love as dream that would not last.
