| Thomas R. Lounsbury, ed. (1838–1915). Yale Book of American Verse. 1912. |
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| Phoebe Cary. 1824–1871 |
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| 155. Alas! |
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| SINCE, if you stood by my side to-day, | |
| Only our hands could meet, | |
| What matter that half the weary world | |
| Lies between our feet; | |
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| That I am here by the lonesome sea, | 5 |
| You by the pleasant Rhine?— | |
| Our hearts were just as far apart | |
| If I held your hand in mine! | |
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| Therefore, with never a backward glance, | |
| I leave the past behind; | 10 |
| And standing here by the sea alone, | |
| I give it to the wind. | |
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| I give it all to the cruel wind, | |
| And I have no word to say; | |
| Yet, alas! to be as we have been, | 15 |
| And to be as we are to-day! | |
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