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Home  »  A Library of American Literature  »  A Farewell

Stedman and Hutchinson, comps. A Library of American Literature:
An Anthology in Eleven Volumes. 1891.
Vols. IX–XI: Literature of the Republic, Part IV., 1861–1889

A Farewell

By Mary Ainge De Vere (Madeline Bridges)

[Born in Brooklyn, N. Y. Littel’s Living Age—The Century Magazine—etc.]

I TAKE my hand from thine and turn away,—

Why should I blame that slight and fickle heart,

That cannot bravely go, nor boldly stay,

Too weak to cling, and yet too fond to part?

Dead passion chains thee where its ashes lie—

Cold is the shrine, ah cold forevermore!

Why linger, then, while golden moments fly

And sunshine waits beyond the open door?

Nay—fare thee well—for memory and I

Must linger here, and wait; we have no choice

Nor other better joy, until we die,

Only to wait, and hear nor step nor voice,

Nor any happy advent come to break

The watch we keep alone—for dear love’s sake!