Flags of the sunset flying
Stormy signals of red,
Night winds rising and crying
With a sad, uneasy dread.
Oh, love was a long time dying,
But now it is very dead!
And now there is nothing to grieve me,
Nothing to bind or keep;
Fortune may follow or leave me
The cold fates smile or weep.
What matter, when what most mattered
Lies buried so deep, so deep?
Now I am free as the wind is,
Careless as is the wave,
And nothing left in my mind is
Of my old dreams bright and brave.
However Autumn be grieving
Over the Summer's grave ...
Loose leaves fallen and flying,
A shrine whose worshippers fled,
Where a cap and bells is lying
in a broken idol's stead ...
Oh, love was a long time dying,
But now it is terribly dead!
First published in The Australian Woman's Mirror, 24 June 1930
