1. My beloved, this lightning - its swords are unsheathed
So perhaps it will destroy the darkness of night

2. For we have no promise of dawn, since before we parted
We had promised it would dawn white

3. Nor knowledge of fate - does a person ever
Flee from whom he loves, knowing the blink of an eye?

4. They departed, leaving the cool of shade, rather
My cheeks and their cheeks stayed branded by embers

5. They left, so time reclaimed my past happiness
As if their nearness had owed it a debt

6. They were manifest, then all manifestation after them faded
No boughs entwined each other anymore

7. Strangers blamed my sleep, though my eyelids did not know
Just as they blamed my heart, though my limbs did not feel

8. I released my sleep though my lids were pregnant
So for that did I keep a duty for them in my cheek

9. If only they would return, my heart ransom for them
I would consent that my cheeks be as earth for them