So sing I now, caught up in night,
Beset by toil and burdened care.
And neverending is my flight
As I stray far from green lands fair.

For I've been shattered in the blast,
And from me has my strength been wrest;
And now, it seems, all hope has passed.
My heart is ice within my breast.

With weary feet I struggle on,
My eyes, though dim, are watching still
For some new wind from time long gone
To lift me high above this hill.

The darkness beats upon my brow
With endless moaning dirges grim.
My load has grown so heavy now;
And sink I must; I cannot swim.

But even though I cannot see
Any light from where I stand,
The world turns still in spite of me,
And somewhere is a joy-filled land...

This thought alone gives strength to sing;
I sing in hopes that one will hear
And come to meet me, and to bring
Relief, and end to haunting fear.

I know just what this one will do;
When hour is darkest, he will come.
Perhaps, to reach me, he'll slog through
The murky Sea that turned me numb.

And he'll unfurl beneath the sky
His single wing of gentle grey.
And a sudden kindred sigh
Will pass between us on that day.

The eye will brighten swiftly then,
The voice will lift on high in song,
The mind will not remember when
The face was pale and night was long.

But I shall not bring naught to him;
Aye, even though my load weighs down,
He'll also need my help to swim;
He'll also sometimes wear a frown.

Now he has hearkened to my call
And stoops to make my burden light!
In bending down, he towers tall
The wide world trembles at the sight.

His one wing, its color dim
Stretches up to brush the sky
And I unfold mine next to him;
A startled tear leaps to his eye.

Side by side we walk alone
Seeking for a warmer clime...
A land where wind shall never moan;
A land where all is kairos-time.

We lift our gazes to the sky
Where all gray clouds obstruct the sun.
To reach that land, we'll have to fly,
So we shall meld our wings as one...