The waves have lost their silvery note,
   White birds of dreams o’er the dim plain start,
       Through the mist is gliding a phantom bark––
          What made love open its eyes and part!

Where are the sweet names we whispered low,
    Were they carried away by the breeze?
        The vain words which from our lips did flow
           Are they buried forever in dismal seas?
             And the kisses that rained on your face
                Has nothing remained of their ardent glow?
                   The night holds nothing but a cold embrace,
                      The sun of our love sank low.

Only the note of the seabird rings
   Through the dim realm of night and mist,
      Not a breath of our past love clings
         To this sea of faded amethyst,
           Even the wind pauses in space
              And refuses to caress our lips;
                 Alas, our love was of fleeting pace
                    Like the visions of seafaring ships.

Like the flash of a meteor’s flight,––
  Know we whither its glow has flown;
      Its sped across heaven with radiant light
       And vanished in worlds unknown––
          So the sweet hours have passed away
            Like flowers that on the sand-dunes grow,
               Like waves that die in a wreath of spray
                  When bitter winds over the shoreland blow.