THE RETURNING

I said I will go back again where we

Were glad together. But my dear, my dear,

Where are the roses we were wont to see

The songs we used to hear?

I said the hearth-flame that once burned for us

I will renew with all the cheer of old,

Yet here within the circle luminous

Our very hearts are cold.

That was a barren garden that we found,

This was an empty house we came to meet,

We, who for all our longing, hear no sound

Of Love's returning feet.