Songs, Ballads, and Other Poems :: :: University of Virginia Library

May thy lot in life be happy, undisturbed by thoughts of me,
The God who shelters innocence, thy guard and guide will be;
Thy heart will lose the chilling sense of hopeless love at last,
And the sunshine of the future chase the shadows of the past.

II

I never wish to meet thee more, though I am still thy friend;
I never wish to meet thee more, since dearer ties must end;
With worldly smiles and worldly words, I could not pass thee by,
Nor turn from thee unfeelingly with cold averted eye.

III

I could not bear to see thee 'midst the thoughtless and the gay;
I could not bear to view thee deck'd in fashion's bright array;
And less could I endure to meet thee pensive and alone,
When through the trees the ev'ning breeze breathes forth its cheerless moan.

IV

For I have met thee 'midst the gay—and thought of none but thee;
And I have seen the bright array—when it was worn for me;
And often near the sunny waves I've wandered by thy side,
With joy—that pass'd away as fast as sunshine from the tide.

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V

But cheerless is the summer! there is nothing happy now;
The daisy withers on the lawn, the blossom on the bough:
The boundless sea looks chillingly, like winter's waste of snow,
And it hath lost the soothing sound with which it used to flow.

VI

I never wish to meet thee more—yet think not I've been taught,
By smiling foes, to injure thee by one unworthy thought.
No:—blest with some beloved one, from care and sorrow free,
May thy lot in life be happy, undisturbed by thoughts of me.