Tithonus In Eos's Halls

I am the lover of the bride of light,
Eos, goddess fair and bright,
Lady who is ever young.
She has gone again away
To sing her song at dawn of day,
And I remember others she has sung.

The earth is a memory dim,
As it should be on the rim
Of a light greater than any light.
But I can still remember
(Though faded as the fire's ember)
When I lived in earthly night.

Then I was unafraid and young.
No song yet had Eos sung
To bind me to her in helpless love.
I hunted in the greenwood forest
With my only song the firefly chorus
When the dawn came in above.

And then I looked up one morning.
There I saw her, without warning,
Dancing with unconscious grace,
The goddess of dawn, of birth of day.
She took my mortal breath away,
And I lost my heart in her bright face.

She consented to bear me far,
To her halls beyond fold of star,
Where the dawn does not take flight,
But lingers quietly in play
Of colors destroyed in harsher day.
She brought me to the land of light.

She asked that I have my life
For as long as her light was rife.
(O, Eos! Curse and bless thy tongue!)
And so I was made immortal,
And now linger tormented at dawn's portal:
She forgot to ask that I stay young.

I am still in love with her,
She who than swandown is softer,
She whose face lives can save.
But she is goddess of dawn's light,
Who did not make her wish aright-
I a mortal man who woos the grave.