Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, TO A LADY ON LEAVING HER AT SIDMOUTH, by GEORGE CRABBE


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

TO A LADY ON LEAVING HER AT SIDMOUTH, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: Yes! I must go - it is a part
Last Line: And thou wilt answer -- 'never, never!'


YES! I must go -- it is a part
That cruel Fortune has assign'd me, --
Must go, and leave, with aching heart,
What most that heart adores, behind me.

Still I shall see thee on the sand
Till o'er the space the water rises,
Still shall in thought behind thee stand,
And watch the look affection prizes.

But ah! what youth attends thy side,
With eyes that speak his soul's devotion --
To thee as constant as the tide
That gives the restless wave its motion?

Still in thy train must he appear,
For ever gazing, smiling, talking?
Ah! would that he were sighing here,
And I were there beside thee walking!

Wilt thou to him that arm resign,
Who is to that dear heart a stranger,
And with those matchless looks of thine
The peace of this poor youth endanger?

Away this fear that fancy makes
When night and death's dull image hide thee:
In sleep, to thee my mind awakes;
Awake, it sleeps to all beside thee.

Who could in absence bear the pain
Of all this fierce and jealous feeling,
But for the hope to meet again,
And see those smiles all sorrow healing?

Then shall we meet, and, heart to heart,
Lament that fate such friends should sever,
And I shall say -- 'We must not part;'
And thou wilt answer -- 'Never, never!'





Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!


Other Poems of Interest...
Home: PoetryExplorer.net