 | [Renunciation, in] Representative sonnets by American poets |  |
94
RENUNCIATION.
Nay, friend, farewell! for if I loved you less,
It might be I should strive to hold you fast
In bonds of friendship you had long o'erpast,
And play the tyrant where I hoped to bless.
Yet, since my love still pleads, I fain would press
Once more your hand e'en while I seem to cast
It coldly from me with these words at last,—
I may not keep and you may not possess!
It might be I should strive to hold you fast
In bonds of friendship you had long o'erpast,
And play the tyrant where I hoped to bless.
Yet, since my love still pleads, I fain would press
Once more your hand e'en while I seem to cast
It coldly from me with these words at last,—
I may not keep and you may not possess!
Sweet friend, believe me, it is better so,—
To part while love finds yet no cause for grief
In slowly-waning faith, lest haply you
Should one day find some flaw in me you knew
Not of, and I through tears should watch you go,
Knowing your soul in mine had lost belief.
To part while love finds yet no cause for grief
In slowly-waning faith, lest haply you
Should one day find some flaw in me you knew
Not of, and I through tears should watch you go,
Knowing your soul in mine had lost belief.
Oscar Fay Adams.
| [Renunciation, in] Representative sonnets by American poets | |