Remember or Forget

I sat beside the streamlet,
I watch'd the water flow,
As we together watch'd it
One little year ago:
The soft rain patter'd on the leaves,
The April grass was wet.
Ah! folly to remember;
'Tis wiser to forget.

The nightingales made vocal
June's palace pav'd with gold;
I watch'd the rose you gave me
Its warm red heart unfold;
But breath of rose and bird's song
Were fraught with wild regret.
'Tis madness to remember;
'Twere wisdom to forget.

I stood among the gold corn,
Alas! no more, I knew,
To gather gleaner's measure
Of the love that fell from you.
For me, no gracious harvest —
Would God we ne'er had met!
'Tis hard, Love, to remember, but
'Tis harder to forget.

The streamlet now is frozen,
The nightingales are fled,
The cornfields are deserted,
And every rose is dead.
I sit beside my lonely fire,
And pray for wisdom yet —
For calmness to remember,
Or courage to forget.