Under the light of the silver moon,
We two sat, when our hearts were young;
The night was warm with the breath of June,
And loud from the meadow the cricket sung,
And darker and deeper, oh love, than the sea,
Were your dear eyes, as they beamed on me.
The moon hung clear, and the night was still;
The waters reflected the glittering skies;
The nightingale sang on the distant hill;
But sweeter than all was the light in your eyes—
Your dear, dark eyes, your eyes like the sea—
And up from the depths shone love for me.
My heart, like a river, was mad and wild—
And a river is not deep, like the sea;
But I said your love was the love of a child,
Compared with the love that was felt by me;
A river leaps noisily, kissing the land,
But the sea is fathomless, deep and grand.
I vowed to love you, for ever and ever;
I called you cold, on that night in June,
But my fierce love, like a reckless river
Dashed oh, and away, and was spent too soon;
While yours—ah, yours was deep like the sea;
I cheated you, love, but you died for me!