If I could tell you, secretly, I love you madly,
Would you accept me gladly?
Because there is no other way but secretly
I can hold you close to me
And tell you what I want to tell:
The secret, heaven; the reason for the secrecy, hell,
The heaven, a love that’s happy, for no one’s ears but ours;
A whispered love that’s whispered, beneath the lovely stars,
A love with no announcement, a love without a view;
A love with me secretly slipping, like poetry, into you.
A love behind a railing, and the moonlight sliding
Along the railing, sliding and sailing and gliding
On the lake, the moonlight’s silver poison coloring a brook,
And everything falling, a secret, leafy, candlelight of a nook
Catching us, who never a love like this forsook.
Look for my sign; I will make it only for you.
The sign: T Expect it in the plainest of places.
Keep your beautiful eyes out for my clue,
You, my moon, fairest of all the faces.
