| |
| MY life ebbs from me—I must die. | |
| Must die—it has a ghostly sound, | |
| A far-off thunder drawing nigh, | |
| An echo as from underground. | |
| Yes, I must die who fain would live; | 5 |
| You cannot give me life—alas! | |
| Dear Love of mine, you can but give | |
| One latest kiss before I pass. | |
| |
| Dear, we have had our summer bliss, | |
| Kisses on cheek, and lip, and brow, | 10 |
| But soul to soul, as now we kiss, | |
| I think we never kiss’d till now. | |
| Give both your hands, and let the earth | |
| Roll onward—let what will befall. | |
| This is an hour of wondrous birth, | 15 |
| And can it be the end of all? | |
| |
| Ah, your sad face! I know you think | |
| (Clasp me, O love, your faith is mine, | |
| Only my weakness made me shrink) | |
| That I am standing on the brink | 20 |
| Of night where never dawn will shine, | |
| Of slumber whence I shall not wake, | |
| Of darkness where no life will grope; | |
| I know your hopeless creed, and take | |
| My part therein for your dear sake,— | 25 |
| We stand asunder if I hope. | |
| |
| And yet I dream’d of a fair land | |
| Where you and I were met at last, | |
| And face to face, and hand in hand, | |
| Smil’d at the sorrow overpast. | 30 |
| The eastern sky was touch’d with fire, | |
| In the dim woodlands cooed the dove, | |
| Earth waited, tense with strong desire, | |
| For day—your coming, O my love! | |
| The breeze awoke to breathe your name, | 35 |
| And through the leafy maze I came | |
| With feet that could not turn aside, | |
| With eyes that would not be denied— | |
| My lips, my heart a rosy flame, | |
| Because you kiss’d me ere I died. | 40 |
| Death could but part us for a while; | |
| Beyond the boundary of years | |
| We met again—oh, do not smile | |
| That tender smile, more sad than tears! | |
| |
| Forget my vision sweet and vain, | 45 |
| Your faith is mine—your faith is best; | |
| Let others count the joys they gain, | |
| I am a thousand times more blest. | |
| They can but give a scanty dole | |
| Out of a life made safe in heaven, | 50 |
| While I am sovereign o’er the whole, | |
| I can give all—and all is given! | |
| Faith such as ours defies the grave, | |
| Nor needs a dream of bliss above— | |
| Shall not this moment make me brave? | 55 |
| O aloe flower of perfect love! | |
| What though the end of all be come, | |
| The latest hour, the latest breath, | |
| This is life’s triumph, and its sum, | |
| The aloe-flower of love and death! | 60 |
| |
| And yet your kisses wake a life | |
| That throbs in anguish through my heart, | |
| Leads up to wage despairing strife, | |
| And shudders, loathing to depart. | |
| Can such desire be born in vain, | 65 |
| Crush’d by inevitable doom? | |
| While you let live can Love be slain? | |
| Can Love lie dead within my tomb? | |
| And when you die—that hopeless day | |
| When darkness comes and utmost need, | 70 |
| And I am dead and cold, you say, | |
| Will Death have power to hold his prey? | |
| Shall I not know? Shall I not heed? | |
| When your last sun, with waning light, | |
| Below the sad horizon dips, | 75 |
| Shall I not rush from out the night | |
| To die once more upon your lips? | |
| |
| Ah, the black moment comes! Draw nigh, | |
| Stoop down, O Love, and hold me fast. | |
| O empty earth! O empty sky! | 80 |
| There is no answer, though I die | |
| Breathing my soul out in the cry, | |
| Is it the first kiss—or the last? | |
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