TELL HIM I LOVE HIM YET.
I
Tell him I love him yet,
As in that joyous time;
Tell him I ne'er forget,
Though memory now be crime;
Tell him, when sad moonlight
Is over earth and sea,
I dream of him by night,—
He must not dream of me!
II
Tell him to go where Fame
Looks proudly on the brave;
Tell him to win a name
By deeds on land and wave;
Green—green upon his brow
The laurel wreath shall be;
Although the laurel now
May not be shared with me.
III
Tell him to smile again
In Pleasure's dazzling throng,
To wear another's chain,
To praise another's song.
Before the loveliest there
I'd have him bend his knee,
And breathe to her the prayer
He used to breathe to me.
IV
And tell him, day by day
Life looks to me more dim;
I falter when I pray,
Although I pray for him.
And bid him, when I die,
Come to our favourite tree:
I shall not hear him sigh.—
Then let him sigh for me!
July 20, 1829.
