Translated from the Spanish by Mason Carnes
If, when the bell-flow’rs on your balcony
All trembling line,
You think it is the sighing, murmuring wind
That passes by,
Know that, hidden among the green leaves there,
For you I sigh.
If, when behind you echoing on your ear
Vague murmurs fall,
You think some far-off voice has called you, know
That from the pall
Of evening shadows that surround you, love,
To you I call.
If in the dead of night your timorous heart
Beats fast, while near
Your lips you feel a passionate, burning breath,
Ah! have no fear.
Know that, although invisible, I breathe
Beside you, dear.
From Poems of Gustavo Adolfo Becquer (Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co., Ltd., 1891) by Gustavo Adolfo Becquer. Translated from the Spanish by Mason Carnes. This poem is in the public domain.