I REMEMBER well
I wished, and she also — my Mary, —
If the thorn above us were fairy,
That I were the king and she queen
Of the elves of the thorn on the green —
As the star fell.


And then I can tell
How I pulled two sprays of the flowers,
One was hers, one was mine: they were ours.
All the rest we left for the elves;
We only took those for ourselves
As the star fell.


Alas! it befell
The life of her spray and mine faded,
And the scent was lost that had laded
The air, and all died that was fair!
I grieve as I think when I dare
How my star fell.


Down into the dell
To the hawthorn I often wander;
On the grass I kneel, and I ponder;
Does she reign as an elf-queen bright
As she reigned in my heart that night
When the star fell?


Will the mist dispel?
May I look on the royal splendour
That her fairy subjects lend her?
Shall we wish together again —
Shall we wish together as then
When the star fell?


Or will fate compel
My lot to be always lonely,
Remembering happiness only?
Will but half of our wish come true —
If I wish again need I rue
That a star fell?