I.
How the mirrored moonbeams quiver
On the waters’ fall and rise,
Yet the moon serene as ever
Wanders through the quiet skies.
Like the mirrored moonlight’s fretting
Are the dreams I have of you,
For my heart will beat, forgetting
You are ever calm and true.
II.
So fair and pure and holy,
So flowerlike thou art,
And while I gaze the shadow
Grows deeper on my heart;
I want my hands to rest on
That head of thine in prayer,
That God will keep thee alway
So holy pure and fair.
III.
The leaves are falling, falling,
The yellow treetops wave,
Ah, all delight and beauty
Is drawing to the grave.
About the wood’s crest flicker
The wan sun’s laggard rays,
They are the parting kisses
Of fleeting summer days.
Meseems I should be shedding
The heart’s-tears from my eyes,
The day will keep recalling
The time of our good-byes.
I knew that you were dying
And I must pass away,
Oh I was the waning summer,
And you were the wood’s decay.