Years came and went; my memories of you
Were slowly fading, your face was growing faint
Within my heart, the sweet arch of your shoulders
Was vaguer than it had been, even your voice
Had slid away, nor did I follow it
Into the deepening shadows of the wood.
Today I can pronounce your name without
A qualm, don't tremble at your glance, and know
That you were simply one among the many,
That youth is folly, but O my heart beware,
Don't think for a moment that it was in vain,
That she has utterly gone, do not think that!
Because you live in all my crooked ties,
In every careless word, in each mistaken
Greeting and in every letter written
Then torn into a thousand tiny pieces,
In every deed of my mishapen being
You live, Oh Anna, and reign there for ever.
