They tell me I have won thy love, -- That if there be One man most blest all men above, Then I am he; I answer not, resolved no more To linger here, And they have bitter words in store To taint thine ear. Did they not mark me dread to speak When thou wert by? Did they not watch my quivering cheek, My streaming eye? And can they fable none the less That I disdain A gift, whose very preciousness Is all my pain? 'Tis true, that when that fatal hour Did first disclose The mystery of my willess power O'er thy repose, I felt it was the ordained one That tie to sever, That only then it could be done, For once and ever! I shall not see thy motive grace Before me play, I shall not look upon thy face One other day! And yet I swear that I am free From bond or vow; What stands betwixt my soul and thee? Oh! ask not Thou. Time was, when I too had my part Of wealth divine, A simple, free, and plastic heart, Almost like thine, When lightened sorrow floated up And died in tears, And easy joy o'erflowed the cup Of eighteen years. If fate had then let cross our ways, Thou wouldst have been The Una of my nights and days, -- My spirit's Queen; -- Thou wouldst have led me glad and pure As thy white lamb; How dare I match this portraiture With what I am? It seems to me, as if that time, And I who wore Its aspect of delight sublime, Were nothing more Than visions, which poetic sloth So oft enjoys, -- As if the Scene and Man were both Mere Fancy's toys. It may be that some help may come To my soul's need, My pilgrim thoughts may find a home In some new creed; But Thou, whose mind has never gone One dream astray, -- Couldst thou be my companion, That perilous way? But I must check my words that flow Too fast and far; For worlds I would not thou shouldst know How such things are! Thou wilt not change, Thou wilt remain Serene and sure, -- The touch of Time may well refrain From things so pure. And now that I have closed the strife, And view once more My future of ungenial life Spread out before, -- To have found favour in thy sight Will still remain A river of thought, that full of light Divides the plain. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...TALES OF A WAYSIDE INN: THE FIRST DAY: PAUL REVERE'S RIDE [APRIL 1775] by HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW SPOON RIVER ANTHOLOGY: RUTHERFORD MCDOWELL by EDGAR LEE MASTERS LOVE: AN ELEGY by MARK AKENSIDE WRITTEN IN BUTLER'S SERMONS by MATTHEW ARNOLD SANCHO SANCHEZ by WILFRID SCAWEN BLUNT INSTRUCTIONS FOR A BALLET by MAXWELL BODENHEIM |