Thomas Lovell Beddoes (1803-1849). Dirge for Wolfram. Andrew Macphail, comp. 1916. The Book of Sorrow

Andrew Macphail, comp. The Book of Sorrow. 1916.

XXVI. Melancholy
Dirge for Wolfram

By Thomas Lovell Beddoes (1803–1849)


IF thou wilt ease thine heart
Of love and all its smart,
Then sleep, dear, sleep;
And not a sorrow
Hang any tear on your eyelashes;	5
Lie still and deep,
Sad soul, until the sea-wave washes
The rim o’ the sun to-morrow,
In eastern sky.

But wilt thou cure thine heart	10
Of love and all its smart,
Then die, dear, die;
’Tis deeper, sweeter,
Than on a rose-bank to lie dreaming
With folded eye;	15
And then alone, amid the beaming
Of love’s stars, thou’lt meet her
In eastern sky.