European Elegies/Summer/Grief at dawn
85.GRIEF AT DAWN
When I behold the lark that soars
In fluttering joy athwart the sun,
And poised in lyric peace outpours
The rapture of a day begun,
The sight of his pure happiness
Makes my dark grief once more awake:
Ah, strange, that in such sore distress
My longing heart should fail to break!
In fluttering joy athwart the sun,
And poised in lyric peace outpours
The rapture of a day begun,
The sight of his pure happiness
Makes my dark grief once more awake:
Ah, strange, that in such sore distress
My longing heart should fail to break!
Alas, how much I thought I knew
Of human pain—how much more now
When love has said its long adieu
And fruitless is each tender vow!
My joys were hers, we felt a free
Sweet love from others set apart;
And passing, she has left to me
Her memory and an aching heart.
Of human pain—how much more now
When love has said its long adieu
And fruitless is each tender vow!
My joys were hers, we felt a free
Sweet love from others set apart;
And passing, she has left to me
Her memory and an aching heart.
From the Provençal of Bernart de Ventadorn.