1. O absent one, after whom companionship is no more,
Nor have my eyes in my nights ceased from wakefulness.

2. Your separation made me weep blood copiously,
For you, until I feared my sight would fail.

3. My day and my night are both dark, both of them,
My day without sun and my night without moon.

4. And though lamentation be my sect and creed,
Yet am I, of all God's creation, most ardent for life.