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Poems

by William Ernest Henley

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XXIII

[I took a hansom on to-day]

I took a hansom on to-day
For a round I used to know—
That I used to take for a woman's sake
In a fever of to-and-fro.

171

There were the landmarks one and all—
What did they stand to show?
Street and square and river were there—
Where was the antient woe?
Never a hint of a challenging hope
Nor a hope laid sick and low,
But a longing dead as its kindred sped
A thousand years ago!