I have wished so oft this mockery might end

by Fernando Pessoa · 28-11-1920
Published 28/11/1920

I have wished so oft this mockery might end

Of love between us! And it's ended now.

Yet I cannot even to myself pretend

That the wished thing achieved gives joy enow.


Every going is a parting too.

Our happiest day doth make us one day older.

To get stars we must have darkness also,

The fresher hour is likewise the colder.


I dare not hesitate not to accept

Thy separating letter, yet I wish

With some vague jealousy I scarce reject

That things were fitted for a different stretch.


Farewell! Yet do I smile at this or not?

My feeling now is lost in thought.

#existential melancholy #fernando pessoa #heartbreak #lost love #separation

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