OH! love while Love is left to thee; Oh! love while Love is yet thine own; The hour will come when bitterly Thou'lt mourn by silent graves, alone! And let thy breast with kindness glow, And gentle thoughts within thee move, While yet a heart, through weal and woe, Beats to thine own in faithful love. And who to thee his heart doth bare, Take heed thou fondly cherish him; And gladden thou his every hour, And not an hour with sorrow dim! And guard thy lips and keep them still; Too soon escapes an angry word. "O God! I did not mean it ill!" But yet he sorrowed as he heard. Oh! love while Love is left to thee; Oh! love while Love is yet thine own; The hour will come when bitterly Thou'lt mourn by silent graves. alone. Unheard, unheeded then, alas! Kneeling, thou'lt hide thy streaming eyes Amid the long, damp, churchyard grass, Where, cold and low, thy loved one lies, And murmur: "Oh, look down on me, Mourning my causeless anger still; Forgive my hasty word to thee— O God! I did not mean it ill!" He hears not now thy voice to bless, In vain thine arms are flung to heaven! And, hushed the loved lip's fond caress, It answers not: "I @3have@1 forgiven!" He @3did@1 forgive—long, long ago! But many a burning tear he shed O'er thine unkindness—softly now! He slumbers with the silent dead. Oh! love while Love is left to thee; Oh! love while Love is yet thine own; The hour will come when bitterly Thou'lt mourn by silent graves—alone! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...TO OUR MOCKING-BIRD; DIED OF A CAT, MAY, 1878 by SIDNEY LANIER SPRING DAY: NIGHT AND SLEEP by AMY LOWELL THE ECHOING GREEN, FR. SONGS OF INNOCENCE by WILLIAM BLAKE SONNET: 9. TO A VIRTUOUS YOUNG LADY by JOHN MILTON I SIT AND LOOK OUT by WALT WHITMAN |