Now the mavis and the merle
Lavish their full hearts in song;
Peach and almond boughs unfurl
White and purple bloom along
A blue burning air,
All is very fair:
But ah! the silence and the sorrow!
I may not borrow
Any anodyne for grief
From the joy of flower or leaf,
No healing to allay my pain
From the cool of air or rain;
Every sweet sound grew still,
Every fair colour pale,
When his life began to wane!
They may never live again!
A child's voice and visage will
Evermore about me fail;
And my weary feet will go
Labouring as in deep snow:
Though the year with glowing wine
Fill the living veins of vine,
While a faint moon hangs between
Broidery of a leafy screen;
Though the glossy fig may swell,
And Night hear her Philomel,
While sweet lemon blossom breathes,
And fair Sun his falchion wreathes
With rich depending golden fruit,
Or crimson roses at his foot,
All is desolate and mute!
Dark to-day, and dark to-morrow!
Ah! the silence and the sorrow!