Sweet love remembered, silent tears now fall

Upon this breast where beats the heart you hold,

As muted murmurs haunt the empty hall

And whisper through the hearth now dark and cold.

O love more rare than any love may be:

Once lit that fire which warmed this quiet home;

Now Stygian black, cold anguish all I see—

Eternal ache I carry here alone.

For but a moment more to hold your hand,

To kiss those lips in pleasure, most sublime,

To press you in my arms in rapture grand…

Perchance I’ll be forgiven in due time.

One line of this regret I pray you’ll  read,

And crush my suffering heart—or grant reprieve!