Seal of Love

Though the whirling leaves are shaken,
though lulled by a gust of wind,
the birds will not go, the clouds come,
though the wind is called fierce,
though it is known that she will not come,
though the red roses wither,
it is an unspoken waiting,
one not even received as a love

The cave-gone heart, entering the forest, hides,
colourless flower petals fall, turning to ash,
never once turning the eyes from a darkness,
this is a sorrow-sleep, given over to the dark

Written like a mark upon stone,
it is a row of solitary reflections,
murmuring in a heart that wanders alone,
stringing dreams because of her,
this is the seal of love

A brooding, poetic song about a love that was never spoken and never returned, and the endless waiting it left behind. Everything in the scene resists movement, the whirling leaves shaken but the birds refusing to leave, clouds coming though the wind is called fierce. And through it all runs the truth he already knows, it is known that she will not come, the red roses wither, and this whole vigil is an unspoken waiting, one not even received as a love. He waits for a love that was never even acknowledged.

The middle sinks inward and dark. The cave-gone heart hides deeper in the forest; colourless flower petals fall, turning to ash; and, never turning his eyes from the darkness, he gives himself over to it, this is a sorrow-sleep, given over to the dark. Grief here is not resisted but surrendered to.

The close names what remains. Written like a mark upon stone, permanent, unerasable, it is a row of solitary reflections, murmured in a heart that wanders alone, still stringing dreams because of her. And that, the song says, is the seal of love, the permanent imprint an unspoken love leaves, carved in a lonely heart like writing in stone. Sung by Ishan Hewage to words by Ruhunuketha Dhammadewa Thero, composed by Tharindu Damsara, it is a dark, poetic song about waiting for a love never returned, and the indelible seal it presses forever into a solitary heart.