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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


AUF WIEDERSEHEN! SUMMER by JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL

Poet Analysis

First Line: THE LITTLE GATE WAS REACHED AT LAST
Last Line: "SHE SAID, -- ""AUF WIEDERSEHEN!"
Subject(s): ABSENCE; SUMMER; SEPARATION; ISOLATION;

The little gate was reached at last,
Half hid in lilacs down the lane;
She pushed it wide, and, as she past,
A wistful look she backward cast,
And said, -- "Auf wiedersehen!"
With hand on latch, a vision white
Lingered reluctant, and again
Half doubting if she did aright,
Soft as the dews that fell that night,
she said, -- "Auf wiedersehen!"
The lamp's clear gleam flits up the stair;
I linger in delicious pain;
Ah, in that chamber, whose rich air
To breathe in thought I scarcely dare,
Thinks she, -- "Auf wiedersehen!"
'T is thirteen years; once more I press
The turf that silences the lane;
I hear the rustle of her dress,
I smell the lilacs, and -- ah, yes,
I hear, -- "Auf wiedersehen!"
Sweet piece of bashful maiden art!
The English words had seemed too fain,
But these -- they drew us heart to heart,
Yet held us tenderly apart;
She said, -- "Auf wiedersehen!"



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