Calypso’s Cave, Gozo.
He came from the sea and went back to the sea.
For seven slow years I gave him all my love
Whilst he pined on the beach and wept.
He wept, who meant more than life to me;
He wept until the Gods decreed
His freedom.
He had no choice; he had no choice at all.
No God asked him.
He sailed into the sunrise and was gone.
He whom I loved was gone.
We hurt each other more than there are any words to tell,
But in the end was mine the worst betrayal of them all?
I thought I gave him the key to freedom,
Who meant more than life to me;
I could not bear to see him weeping so.
But did I give him the key to freedom
Or did I hand him helpless to the Gods,
Or both?
He who had pined so long left with no word of thanks.
He never said farewell.
There was no need for thanks,
But why
That one last night of love before the dawn?
And why
Were tears in eyes which seven slow years rejected me?
The Gods are long since dead and only I remain
To wait before this empty cave
For he
Who nevermore returns from wandering free.
All beauty gone,
In black I wait and every face I scan.
The brazen sun still vaults the sky –
In black I wait but nevermore does he return.
The wine-dark sea still laps the shore –
In black I wait to smile in hope
At every stranger’s empty face and every dawn
To search the empty sea.
For seven slow years I gave him all my love
Whilst he pined on the beach and wept.
He wept, who meant more than life to me;
He wept until the Gods decreed
His freedom.
He had no choice; he had no choice at all.
No God asked him.
He sailed into the sunrise and was gone.
He whom I loved was gone.
We hurt each other more than there are any words to tell,
But in the end was mine the worst betrayal of them all?
I thought I gave him the key to freedom,
Who meant more than life to me;
I could not bear to see him weeping so.
But did I give him the key to freedom
Or did I hand him helpless to the Gods,
Or both?
He who had pined so long left with no word of thanks.
He never said farewell.
There was no need for thanks,
But why
That one last night of love before the dawn?
And why
Were tears in eyes which seven slow years rejected me?
The Gods are long since dead and only I remain
To wait before this empty cave
For he
Who nevermore returns from wandering free.
All beauty gone,
In black I wait and every face I scan.
The brazen sun still vaults the sky –
In black I wait but nevermore does he return.
The wine-dark sea still laps the shore –
In black I wait to smile in hope
At every stranger’s empty face and every dawn
To search the empty sea.
RAE, 5 April 1975
Calypso’s Cave, Gozo.
He came from the sea and went back to the sea.
For seven slow years I gave him all my love
Whilst he pined on the beach and wept.
He wept, who meant more than life to me;
He wept until the Gods decreed
His freedom.
He had no choice; he had no choice at all.
No God asked him.
He sailed into the sunrise and was gone.
He whom I loved was gone.
We hurt each other more than there are any words to tell,
But in the end was mine the worst betrayal of them all?
I thought I gave him the key to freedom,
Who meant more than life to me;
I could not bear to see him weeping so.
But did I give him the key to freedom
Or did I hand him helpless to the Gods,
Or both?
He who had pined so long left with no word of thanks.
He never said farewell.
There was no need for thanks,
But why
That one last night of love before the dawn?
And why
Were tears in eyes which seven slow years rejected me?
The Gods are long since dead and only I remain
To wait before this empty cave
For he
Who nevermore returns from wandering free.
All beauty gone,
In black I wait and every face I scan.
The brazen sun still vaults the sky –
In black I wait but nevermore does he return.
The wine-dark sea still laps the shore –
In black I wait to smile in hope
At every stranger’s empty face and every dawn
To search the empty sea.
For seven slow years I gave him all my love
Whilst he pined on the beach and wept.
He wept, who meant more than life to me;
He wept until the Gods decreed
His freedom.
He had no choice; he had no choice at all.
No God asked him.
He sailed into the sunrise and was gone.
He whom I loved was gone.
We hurt each other more than there are any words to tell,
But in the end was mine the worst betrayal of them all?
I thought I gave him the key to freedom,
Who meant more than life to me;
I could not bear to see him weeping so.
But did I give him the key to freedom
Or did I hand him helpless to the Gods,
Or both?
He who had pined so long left with no word of thanks.
He never said farewell.
There was no need for thanks,
But why
That one last night of love before the dawn?
And why
Were tears in eyes which seven slow years rejected me?
The Gods are long since dead and only I remain
To wait before this empty cave
For he
Who nevermore returns from wandering free.
All beauty gone,
In black I wait and every face I scan.
The brazen sun still vaults the sky –
In black I wait but nevermore does he return.
The wine-dark sea still laps the shore –
In black I wait to smile in hope
At every stranger’s empty face and every dawn
To search the empty sea.
RAE, 5 April 1975