I HAVE been there before thee, O my love!
—Each winding way I know and all the flowers,
The shadowy cypress trees, the twilight grove,
—Where rest, in fragrant sleep, the enchanted hours.

I have been there before thee. At the end
—There stands a gate through which thou too must pass.
When thou shalt reach it, God in mercy send
—Thou say no bitterer word, love, than “Alas!”