Ah, dear, we part for ever,
You with a longing sigh,
I with a heart that never
Can thrill with beauty nigh.
I know that time discloses
Brief joy and longer grief;
To you the time of roses
To me the autumn leaf.
I take the leaf and wear it,
With all the pain it brings;
The bitter winds they tear it
As to my brow it clings.
But time, the still offender,
Gives of his gifts the chief;
To you the rose's splendour,
To me the autumn leaf.
A little time for mating
Is all the gods allow,
A little room for hating
And then they veil the brow.
They give where love reposes
A space as swift and brief
To you the time of roses
To me the autumn leaf.