When the Flood’s waters started to abate
And waves ceased over all the earth to roam,
Love crawled ashore, bedraggled and sedate,
Out of the muddy whirlpools and the foam,
And vanished into thin air to await
Its time - though who could say when it would come?

There are some people - very funny creatures -
Who will breathe deeply of this heady mixture.
Expecting no reward, nor bent on grieving,
Without a thought for anything sublime,
They suddenly begin to breathe in time
With someone else’s quick, uneven breathing.

I’ll make lovers’ beds of fields and groves,
Let them sing, awake and in their sleep!..
I am breathing, that means I’m in love!
I’m in love, and that means I’m alive!

There will be years of wandering through hills
And valleys, for the Land of Love is vast.
It’ll put its knights through rigorous ordeals
To test their love, to see how it will last.
It’ll call for distances and silences, it will
Deprive them of their sleep and quiet and rest...

You cannot drive the madmen back - they say,
Just name the price, and we will promptly pay.
They’ll pay the highest price - they’ll risk their lives
To keep the thread from breaking, to prevent
The magic golden thread from being rent -
The flimsiest and the strongest of all ties.

I’ll make lovers’ beds of fields and groves,
Let them sing, awake and in their sleep!..
I am breathing, that means I’m in love!
I’m in love, and that means I’m alive!

But oh, how many lovers must have choked
On love, and hear no calls, however loud!
They figure in malicious idle talk.
Their names, though, should be written down in blood,
And we’ll light candles for the hearts that broke,
That loved not wisely, and were too well loved...

Their souls will wander among flowers, their song
Will fly to heaven in heavenly unison,
They’ll breathe eternity, as if reciting verse,
And with a sigh for hapless golden dreams,
They’ll meet on bridges across timeless streams,
On narrow crossroads of the universe.

Fresh winds cheered the chosen like strong mead,
Raised them from the dead, and turned their head;
If you have not loved - you have not lived,
If you have not loved - you have been dead!