Three times I tried to fling my arms around her neck, three times I embraced—nothing... her phantom sifting… — Virgil

Three times I tried to fling my arms around her neck,

three times I embraced—nothing... her phantom

sifting through my fingers,

light as wind, quick as a dream in flight.

In the original (Latin)

Ter conatus ibi collo dare bracchia circum;

Ter frustra comprensa manus effugit imago.

Source: Wikiquote · CC BY-SA 4.0