Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, SEPARATED, by CARROLL RYAN


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

SEPARATED, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: What matters the tramp of the crowd on the highway
Last Line: When his step will never more come to the gate?
Alternate Author Name(s): Ryan, William Thomas Carroll
Subject(s): Absence; Separation; Isolation


What matters the tramp of the crowd on the high-way
When his step will never more come to the gate?
Oh, what do I care now how many come my way,
When he never comes to me early or late?

He gave me his dear love, all others forsaking
His hand and his home with his love he gave me;
But what of it all to a heart that is breaking
To clasp him again, whom I never shall see.

In the morn when I rise I fling open my casement,
Still thinking to hear his light step on the mould,
Tho' I know in my heart that no greater amazement
Could be than the sight of my lover of old.

I strive to be still while I wait for his coming,
I tidy his room, put his chair in its place,
I gather my work, and his fav'rite airs humming,
I gaze on the picture that shows me his face.

The day passes on, till the shadows returning
Inform my sad heart I have waited in vain,
But the lamp of my love in the window is burning—
Oh, surely, he'll see it, and come back again!

O, would we were dead, and the agony over!
I can picture two souls meeting naked above—
The lone one at home and the sad one a rover—
Could meet unashamed in the light of their love.

The footsteps are many, tho' few that come my way,
I sit and I weep while I patiently wait.
What matters the tramp of the crowd on the highway,
When his step will never more come to the gate?





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