I

Away! We know that tears are vain,

That death nor hears nor heeds distress;

Will this un-teach us to complain

Or make one mourner weep the less?

And thou who tell’st me to forget,

Thy looks are wan, thine eyes are wet.

II

There’s nothing sadder than a pleasure past

That empties into nothing with the years,

It’s like a rainbow that can never last

Glimpsed in the sunlight

And then veiled in tears.

It fades away into a nothingness

And only leaves a memory behind —

Oh that we could forget it, or suppress

The picture that keeps coming back to mind!

When it has gone the memory remains

To taunt us with a pleasure that’s no more.