In tenebris

Thomas Hardy

Percussus sum sicut foenum, et aruit cor meum.

[Salmos 101: 5.]

            Wintertime nighs;

But my bereavement-pain

It cannot bring again:

            Twice no one dies.

            Flower-petals flee;

But, since it once hath been,

No more that severing scene

            Can harrow me.

            Birds faint in dread:

I shall not lose old strength

In the lone frost’s black length:

            Strength long since fled!

            Leaves freeze to dun;

But friends can not turn cold

This season as of old

            For him with none.

            Tempests may scath;

But love can not make smart

Again this year his heart

            Who no heart hath.

            Black is night’s cope;

But death will not appal

One who, past doubtings all,

            Waits in unhope.

Fonte (última estrofe): Carpeaux, O. M. 2011. História da literatura ocidental, vol. 3. Brasília, Senado Federal.