BY the sad waters of separation
     Where we have wandered by divers ways,
I have but the shadow and imitation
     Of the old memorial days.

In music I have no consolation,
     No roses are pale enough for me;
The sound of the waters of separation
     Surpasseth roses and melody.

By the sad waters of separation
     Dimly I hear from an hidden place
The sigh of mine ancient adoration:
     Hardly can I remember your face.

If you be dead, no proclamation
     Sprang to me over the waste, gray sea:
Living, the waters of separation
     Sever for ever your soul from me.

No man knoweth our desolation;
     Memory pales of the old delight;
While the sad waters of separation
     Bear us on to the ultimate night.

References

Dowson, Ernest. The Poems And Prose Of Ernest Dowson. Ed. Arthur Symons. London: John Lane, The Bodley Head, 1905. Pp. 31-32. [Scanned and formatted by GPL.]


Last modified 4 November 2006