SO it ends, my dream of loving!
In this empty house I sit,
With my tired spirit proving
All the cynics' bitter wit.
Round me thro' the open shutters
Floats the heavy-scented night;
Not a leaf or grass-blade flutters;
Vapours hide the moon from sight.
Endless, boundless, high above me,
Yawn the ghastly gulfs of space.
I'd have looked, with her to love me,
Those abysses in the face!
All illusion! Well, what matter?
Dim the lights — applaud the play!
Fill the silence with our chatter.
Lay the fairy masks away.
Oh, deep night! My invocation
Is to you, to you alone!
Pour, pour down your consecration,
Though the dream of love has flown.
Large-enfolding night, receive me!
Drown the treacherous siren-songs.
Ah! the love that will not leave me,
Night, to you alone belongs.
This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published before January 1, 1924.
The author died in 1963, so this work is also in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 50 years or less. This work may also be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.