I leaving oft behind The labours and the vigils of my mind, That did my life consume, And of my being far the best entomb, Bade from the casement of my father's house Mine ears give heed unto thy silver song, And to thy rapid hand That swept with skill the spinning thread along. I watched the sky serene, The radiant ways and flowers, And here the sea, the mountain there, expand. No mortal tongue can tell What made my bosom swell.
What thoughts divinely sweet, What hopes, O Silvia! and what souls were ours! In what guise did we meet Our destiny and life? When I remember such aspiring flown, Fierce pain invades my soul, Which nothing can console, And my misfortune I again bemoan. O Nature, void of ruth, Why not give some return For those fair promises? Why full of fraud Thy wretched offspring spurn?
Thou ere the herbs by winter were destroyed, Led to the grave by an unknown disease, Didst perish, tender blossom: thy life's flower Was not by thee enjoyed; Nor heard, thy heart to please, The admiration of thy raven hair Or of the enamoured glances of thine eyes; Nor thy companions in the festive hour Spoke of love's joys and sighs.
Ere long my hope as well Was dead and gone. By cruel Fate's decree Was youthfulness denied Unto my years. Ah me! How art thou past for aye, Thou dear companion of my earlier day, My hope so much bewailed! Is this the world? Are these The joys, the loves, the labours and the deeds Whereof so often we together spoke? Is this the doom to which mankind proceeds? When truth before thee lay Revealed, thou sankest; and thy dying hand Pointed to death, a figure of cold gloom, And to a distant tomb.
Ye stars of Ursa's sign, I did not think I should return, as formerly, to gaze Upon you, shining on my father's garden, And with you to hold parley from the windows Of this old mansion where in youth I dwelt, And of my joys beheld the bitter end. How many strange imaginings of yore Your aspect and the stars that near you shine, Created in my thoughts when 'twas my wont, In silence wrapped, on verdant sward reclining, To pass the hours of evening, gazing long Upon the sky and list'ning to the sound That issued from frog-haunted marshes far. 'Twas then the glow-worm hovered round the hedges And o'er the beds of flowers; while to the wind The fragrant alleys rustled, and beyond The cypress forest moaned; and 'neath our roof Voices proceeded, and the quiet work Of the attendants. And what thoughts immense, What sweetest dreams inspired me at the view Of that far-distant sea, those azure mountains, Which yonder I discern, and which some day I hoped to cross, an unknown world, unknown Felicity depicting to my years! This life of mine, so painful and so bare, I willingly with death would have exchanged!