Out of the mist-land of the Past come back,
And hold my hand in silence, smile on me
Just once to cheer me on the lonely track
That leads from sorrow to uncertainty.
Where art thou now? Ah, love, how can I say,
Perchance in some far world I may not see.
As many ocean waves have rolled away
As all the years that hide thee far from me.
Yet I have known thee once full long ago,
The evening winds bring echoes of our love,
The twilight-drooping flowers do tell me so,
And the imagined murmuring above.
And to my spirit thou art ever real,
Who wert, and art, and shalt be mine ideal.