Índice Geral das Seções Índice da Seção Atual Índice da Obra Atual Anterior: 20. Canção para Minha Querida Seguinte: 22. Cair da Noite
(p. 66)
21.
UMA VEZ EM TODA UMA VIDA
WE sat beneath a summer sky,
All round us summer sunshine lay,
We sat together in the bay,
My sweetheart Kate and I.
O there was throbbing at my heart,
And in my soul the pain was great,
I spoke, –– “We sail to-morrow, Kate,
And you and I must part.”
In mine my darling laid her hand,
“Trust me,” with faithful lips she said,
Ah there were never lips so red
And sweet in all the land!
I know not how these things may be,
But while she answered, like a spell
The wailing thunder rose and fell
And died across the sea.
(p. 67)
Closer in mine she stole her hand,
And two soft eyes looked up and down,
Ah there were never eyes so brown
And deep in all the land!
“Look, sweetheart, look!” she said, “I heard
The storm!” O me, ––
all round the bay
The seething clouds were high and grey;
I looked and spoke no word;
But fast in mine I griped her hand
And rained my kisses on her hair,
Ah there were never curls so fair
And golden in the land!
We parted. O the lifelong pain
That from that bitter parting grew, ––
“Sweetheart,” she said, “I will be true
Till death shall part us twain.”
O would I had been wrecked at sea
And tossed and torn by waves and wind
Or ever I came home to find
My Kate no more to me!
Or ever I came home again,
My winsome Kate was dead, –– was dead;
“Till death shall part us twain,” she said,
“Till death shall part us twain.”
(p. 68)
Here, where she lies alone, I stand,
And in my soul, hot pulses beat,
Ah there was never one so sweet
And pure in all the land!
O fatal clouds across the sea!
O bitter
day that saw us part!
For life is dead within my heart,
And never more shall be!
No more! I shall behold her face
No more! –– the shadows round me creep,
Love, I would lay me down and sleep
With thee a little space.
Índice Geral das Seções Índice da Seção Atual Índice da Obra Atual Anterior: 20. Canção para Minha Querida Seguinte: 22. Cair da Noite