Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, SYMPATHY, by MARY L. SEWARD


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

SYMPATHY, by                    
First Line: Come thou with me - thy clasped hand in
Last Line: He'll linger not, for love will bid him flee.
Alternate Author Name(s): Mumford, Mary L.
Subject(s): Sympathy; Empathy


COME thou with me -- thy clasped hand in mine --
I'll tell thee o'er the story of thy heart;
I'll tell thee how my spirit springs to thine,
I'll bid the shadows from thy brow depart.

Ah! earnestly I've mark'd thee day by day,
And ever day by day with saddening thought;
I've seen thy purest feelings thrown away,
And mourn'd the inward woe such waste hath wrought

Life's favour'd child, for ever round thee spring
Immortal flowers of love and beauty rare;
And still the incense they around thee fling
Charms not thy senses from their spell of care, --

Lures not thy spirit from its wayward dreams,
Beguiles thee not the livelong, dreary day,
Awakes thee not to bless the sunny beams
That fain would light thee on thy weary way!

Thou sighest still for something not thine own,
Some precious thing that ever mocks thy sigh,
Some phantom form of love, that long hath flown
Above, beyond, thy watchful, eager eye.

Oh! sigh no more, and bid thy dreams begone!
Let waking visions all thy pain beguile
Nay, turn not thy reproachful gaze on one
Whose all of life is centred in thy smile.

If holiest love dwelt not within my soul,
Dost think that I could read thy soul aright?
Dost think that I would thus fling off control,
And all my inner self reveal to sight?

I've not a selfish thought, when thou art near;
My loving heart, with all the might it hath,
Forgetting self, but longs, with trembling fear,
To be the guardian angel of thy path.

From all that grieves thee now thyself to win,
And make a paradise on earth for thee,
Where, though the serpent Care may enter in,
He'll linger not, for Love will bid him flee.





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