COMFORT IN ABSENCE.
Oh, love, remember when between us lies
The bitter, barren sea, the dreary land,
How utterly alone I then shall stand.
Lo! not with thine, but with my sadder eyes,
Look thou upon the cold, unpitying skies;
Or, when glad birds beneath thy window band,
As when we, silent, sitting hand in hand,
Watch'd the gray windless autumn morning rise,—
Since I would have my soul still beat in thine,
Be sad for me, and in thy spirit say,—
“How dark for him, and desolate this day,
From gray beginning unto gray decline.”
So shall I gather strength to go my way,
Feeling thy soul compassionating mine.
