I HAVE watch'd thee with rapture, and dwelt on thy charms, As link'd in Love's fetters we wander'd each day; And each night I have sought a new life in thy arms, And sigh'd that our union could last not for aye. But thy life now depends on a frail silken thread, Which I even by kindness may cruelly sever, And I look to the moment of parting with dread, For I feel that in parting I lose thee forever. Sole being that cherish'd my poor troubled heart! Thou know'st all its secrets -- each joy and each grief; And in sharing them all thou did'st ever impart To its sorrows a gentle and soothing relief. The last of a long and affectionate race, As thy days are declining I love thee the more, For I feel that thy loss I can never replace -- That thy death will but leave me to weep and deplore. Unchanged, thou shalt live in the mem'ry of years, I cannot -- I will not -- forget what thou wert! While the thoughts of thy love as they call forth my tears, In fancy will wash thee once more -- MY LAST SHIRT. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...GUILIELMUS REX by THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH CHAUCERS WORDES UNTO ADAM, HIS OWN SCRIVEYN by GEOFFREY CHAUCER THE SNUG LITTLE ISLAND by THOMAS FROGNALL DIBDIN THE RHODORA: ON BEING ASKED, WHENCE IS THE FLOWER? by RALPH WALDO EMERSON A DIALOGUE ANTHEM by GEORGE HERBERT STANZAS; HOOD'S LAST POEM by THOMAS HOOD |