| |
| YES! I must go,—it is a part | |
| That cruel Fortune has assigned me,— | |
| Must go, and leave, with aching heart, | |
| What most that heart adores behind me. | |
| |
| Still I shall see thee on the sand | 5 |
| Till o’er the space the water rises, | |
| Still shall in thought behind thee stand, | |
| And watch the look affection prizes. | |
| |
| But ah! what youth attends thy side, | |
| With eyes that speak his soul’s devotion,— | 10 |
| To thee as constant as the tide | |
| That gives the restless wave its motion? | |
| |
| Still in thy train must he appear | |
| Forever gazing, smiling, talking? | |
| Ah! would that he were sighing here, | 15 |
| And I were there beside thee walking! | |
| |
| Wilt thou to him that arm resign, | |
| Who is to that dear heart a stranger, | |
| And with those matchless looks of thine | |
| The peace of this poor youth endanger? | 20 |
| |
| Away this fear that fancy makes | |
| When night and death’s dull image hide thee: | |
| In sleep, to thee my mind awakes; | |
| Awake, it sleeps to all beside thee. | |
| |
| Who could in absence bear the pain | 25 |
| Of all this fierce and jealous feeling, | |
| But for the hope to meet again, | |
| And see those smiles all sorrow healing? | |
| |
| Then shall we meet, and, heart to heart, | |
| Lament that fate such friends should sever, | 30 |
| And I shall say, “We must not part”; | |
| And thou wilt answer, “Never, never!” | |
| |
