The speaker is certain she and the person she sees have known each other in a previous existence. The moment she notices him, the ordinary city around her vanishes and is replaced by a strange, dreamlike place—an eastern blue sky, unfamiliar flowers, heavy perfumes, and silent birds. There, she remembers loving him with an intensity beyond ordinary human love. Now, in the present, they are about to part, and she wonders whether he feels any echo of that old bond. He seems ready to forget, but she cannot stop grieving for the past. There is a faint hope that they might meet again in some future life, yet the final mood is mostly wistful and sorrowful—full of longing, mystery, and quiet regret over a connection only she seems to feel.
Pre-Existence — Summary
We have met, you and I, long ago, Yesterday when I saw you I knew, For the sight of the city was gone. And the sky took an orient blue ;
Strange flowers and strange perfumes were there, Strange birds without song flitted by, O I loved you as woman ne'er loved When we met long ago, you and I.
We have loved long ago, you and I, Though to-day we but linger to part. O say, do you wish to forget ? Does no answer awake in your heart ?
Perhaps in the future 'tis writ That we meet once again. Ah, goodbye ! You forget, but I sigh for that past Where we met and we loved, you and I.