FAINTER and fainter may fall on my ear The voice that is sweeter than music to hear; More and more eagerly then will I list, That never a word or an accent be missed. Slower and slower the footstep may grow, Whose fall is the pleasantest sound that I know; Quicker and quicker my glad heart shall learn To catch its faint echo and bless its return. Whiter and whiter may turn with each day The locks that so sadly are changing to gray; Dearer and dearer shall these seem to me, The fewer and whiter and thinner they be. Weaker and weaker may be the light clasp Of the hand that I hold so secure in my grasp; Stronger and stronger my own to the last Will cling to it, holding it tenderly fast. Darker and darker above thee may spread The clouds of a fate that is hopeless and dread; Brighter and brighter the sun of my love Will shine, all the shadows and mists to remove. Envy and malice thy life may assail, Favor and fortune and friendship may fail; But perfect and sure, and undying shall be The trust of this heart that is centred in thee! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE POPPY-LAND EXPRESS by EDGAR WADE ABBOT THE NATIONAL PAINTINGS: COL. TRUMBULL'S 'THE DECLARATION...' by FITZ-GREENE HALLECK TO HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW; ON HIS BIRTHDAY, 27 FEB. 1867 by JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL EPIGRAM: PERJURY by ROBERT NUGENT ODE TO THE MAGUIRE by EOCHADH O'HUSSEY THE GYPSY by PHILIP EDWARD THOMAS |