"See how Time makes all

grief decay," Would lie down thankfully to rest,

And seek thee in eternal day.

II.

85

Than bid the hours of dying day Gleam in their mid-day noon again;

If I should loose thy hand, and know

That henceforth we must dwell apart,

Since I had seen thy love de

part,

And only count the hours flow By the dull throbbing of my heart;

If I should gaze and gaze in vain Into thine eyes so deep and clear,

And read the truth of all my fear

Half mixed with pity for my pain,

And sorrow for the vanished
year;

If, not to grieve thee overmuch,
I strove to counterfeit disdain,
And weave me a new life again,
Which thy life could not mar, or
touch,

And so smile down my bitter
pain; -

The ghost of my dead Past would rise

And mock me, and I could

not dare

Look to a future of despair, Or even to the eternal skies,

For I should still be lonely there.