Imprimis: I forgot all day your face,

Eyes, eyebrows, gentle mouth, and cheek—all faded;

Nor could I in the mind’s deep forest trace

The haunted path whereby that dream evaded.

Secundus: I forgot all night your laughter,

In vain evoked it with strong charms of thought;

Gone, like a cry that leaves no image after,

Phoenix of sound which no hand ever caught.

Tertius: my wanton mind and heart, together,

Forgetting you, you absent, have delighted

For no more cause than bright or stormy weather,

Singing for joy; in truth, I am benighted.

Yet, when I home once more from breach of faith,

Love there awaits me with a joy like death.