Flown Love

So far Love has flown we cannot find him;
All joy is past:
We may not follow, regain and bind him,
He flies so fast.

"And where has Love flown, if flown he be?
Can you not say?
Across what mountains, and over what sea?
Which way? Which way?"

O'er viewless mountains and seas you know not,
To lands unknown,
Where winds are still, and where waters flow not:
There has Love flown.

"And when did Love leave you alone, alone?
Heart, say this thing."
In the autumn-time, when the wet winds moan.
And dead leaves cling;

When the night was wildest, the sky most black,
At dead of night,
Right into the wind, on his trackless track.
Love took his flight.

"Oh, wait till the summer the earth redeems
From winter's spell:
Then Love shall return and fulfil your dreams.
And all be well."

Nay, Love shall not come with the lengthening light,
O Love flown far,
Right into the land, deep into the night
That knows no star.