| Arthur Quiller-Couch, comp. The Oxford Book of Victorian Verse. 1922. | | | | Parting | | By William Caldwell Roscoe (1823–1859) |
| | | THRICE with her lips she touch’d my lips, | |
| Thrice with her hand my hand, | |
| And three times thrice look’d t’wards the sea, | |
| But never to the land: | |
| Then ‘Sweet,’ she said, ‘no more delay, | 5 |
| For Heaven forbids a longer stay.’ | |
| |
| I, with my passion in my heart, | |
| Could find no words to waste; | |
| But, striving often to depart, | |
| I strain’d her to my breast: | 10 |
| Her wet tears wash’d my weary cheek; | |
| I could have died, but could not speak. | |
| |
| The anchor swings, the sheet flies loose, | |
| And, bending to the breeze, | |
| The tall ship never to return | 15 |
| Flies thro’ the foaming seas. | |
| Cheerily ho! the sailors cry— | |
| My sweet love lessening in my eye. | |
| |
| O Love, turn towards the land thy sight! | |
| No more peruse the sea: | 20 |
| Our God, who severs thus our hearts, | |
| Shall surely care for thee: | |
| For me, let waste-wide Ocean swing, | |
| I too lie safe beneath his wing. | | | | |
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