When the Sad Word
Paul the Silentiary
When the sad word, "Adieu,"
From my lip is nigh falling,
And with it, Hope passes away,
Ere the tongue hath half breathed it,
My fond heart recalling
That fatal farewell, bids me stay,
For oh! 'tis a penance so weary
One hour from thy presence to be,
That death to this soul were less dreary,
Less dark than long absence from thee.
Thy beauty, like Day, o'er the dull world breaking.
Brings life to the heart it shines o'er,
And, in mine, a new feeling of happiness waking,
Made light what was darkness before.
But mute is the Day's sunny glory,
While thine hath a voice, on whose breath,
More sweet than the Syren's sweet story,
My hopes hang, through life and through death!
Songs from the Greek Anthology
Translated from the Greek by Thomas Moore.
