Even when death comes

Though life is but a fleeting thing,
how many meetings fill its space;
even in a moment's glimpse
what depths of heart find their place!

Some souls we love at first sight,
others remain forever strange;
those who slip into our hearts then drift away
stay close within, beyond all change.

What music stirs the deepest self,
whose flute makes the spirit yearn—
we cannot know, cannot grasp...
all turns to error in one turn!

Yet in the heart their image lives—
ever fresh, ever fair!
Ah, how the breast leaps up in joy,
blood flowing warm as summer air!

Though life lasts but a moment,
when death comes, love survives;
only the body meets its end—
the deathless soul spreads golden light!