The dark swallows will come back
Dark swallows will return
to hang their nests on your balcony
and again with their wings will rap playfully
on its windows.
But those who checked their flight
to contemplate your beauty and my happiness,
those who memorized our names,
those... will not return!
Dense honeysuckles will return
to climb the adobe walls of your garden
and again in the afternoon even more lovely
will open their flowers.
But those drops of dew
that we watched tremble
and fall like tears of the day...
those... will not return!
Ardent words of love will return
to sound in your ear,
your heart will perhaps awaken
from its deep slumber.
But mute and entranced and kneeling,
like worshiping God at an altar,
like I desired you..., don't kid yourself,
no one will desire you like that!
translated by H. Landman
Dusky swallows again will come
Upon thy balcony their nests to swing,
And tap their wings upon thy window-panes
In playful fluttering;
But those which slackened in their flight,
Thy beauty and my fortune their concern;
Those which even came to know our names...
Those... will ne'er return!
Twining honeysuckle will come
Again thy garden wall to clamber o'er,
And spread again upon the air its blossoms,
Fairer than all before;
But those, bediamonded with dew,
Whose drops we two were wont to watch aquiver
And fall, as they were tears of limpid morning...
Those... will come back never!
Burning words of love will come
Again full oft within thine ears to sound;
Perchance thy heart will even be aroused
From its sleep profound;
But mute and prostrate and absorbed,
As God is worshipped in His holy fane,
As I have loved thee... undeceive thyself:
Thou wilt not be thus loved again!
Young Allison
.jpg)
Liked or faved by...
.jpg)
Other works by Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer...
