The Book of Jade

But my heart said—All this is naught to me

and there in hell alone
My heart took up again its ancient woe.

Beneath the open sky my soul lies dead

mine eyes have seen the last despair.

I could not love you more if you were dead.

I am made as a man that slowly dies;
I am made as a man already dead.

A fire that burns me and a flame that brands
Me, whose dead days pass slow as heavy tears

There 'neath the stars eternal,
We two shall sit, we only,
While from the heavens, lonely,
The moon sinks in the sea

Not in this world, beloved

The heart hath not found its longing
Here, nor shall find it ever;
Behold of my life's endeavour
Remaineth only woe