Farewell, My Bride»

**(Verse 1)**  
I saw the feast of death so dire,  
The gloomy rites of interment:  
A young maid found eternal fire,  
In shadows’ deep extinction.  

No long array of carriages,  
No black veils, no censing flame —  
Among the courtiers and the pages  
They pressed until the grave’s domain.  

**(Chorus)**  
Farewell, farewell, my bride!  
The sweet, sad weight of sorrow  
I bear in memory, deep and wide,  
Like a flower given, lost tomorrow…  

**(Verse 2)**  
Ah, no! A plain plank coffin bore  
Her friends in solemn, quiet measure,  
And without pomp or ritual store,  
The parish priest led at their leisure.  

Her kin, on this day of despair,  
The groom struck down by grief profound,  
Amidst her young companions fair,  
With tears escorted to the ground.  

**(Chorus)**  
Farewell, farewell, my bride!  
The sweet, sad weight of sorrow  
I bear in memory, deep and wide,  
Like a flower given, lost tomorrow…  

**(Verse 3)**  
And now the spiritual physician  
Has sung the last, solemn petition,  
And louder still the wail and moan…  
Death ends its hunt — the deed is done!  

A nail resounds, long, clear, and stark,  
The tomb’s lid closes, sealed in dark —  
And like a new guest, in the hush,  
The maiden yielded to the hush.  

**(Bridge)**  
I knew her — once, in playful grace,  
She gave me a flower, fresh and bright;  
Then paled, withered, left no trace —  
Like that same gift, now lost from sight.  

**(Final Chorus)**  
Farewell, farewell, my bride…  
The sweet, sad weight…  
Forever in my heart’s deep tide —  
Your gentle light, your fading shade…