 | Love-Songs |  |
10
THE LAST FAREWELL.
Ten years ago the sweet sea shone supreme
With glow and splendour of love's early dream;
Passion touched every wave with magic gleam.
With glow and splendour of love's early dream;
Passion touched every wave with magic gleam.
The white waves, laughing, foamed anear our feet;
The summer afternoons, 'mid flowers, were sweet;
We wandered through the woods, the golden wheat.
The summer afternoons, 'mid flowers, were sweet;
We wandered through the woods, the golden wheat.
Now where art thou? And, sweetheart, where am I?
Where are the sunsets of that early sky?
Love's silver streams have vanished; they are dry.
Where are the sunsets of that early sky?
Love's silver streams have vanished; they are dry.
Thou hast chosen—keep to it—thy fitting part,
And given away thy spirit, and thy heart;
My thought no longer lingers where thou art.
And given away thy spirit, and thy heart;
My thought no longer lingers where thou art.
Lo! our great rose of love I take in hand,
And, glancing once back, towards the fair lost land,
I let thy face with its sweet breath be fanned.
And, glancing once back, towards the fair lost land,
I let thy face with its sweet breath be fanned.
Once more, once more; then towards a shoreless sea,
And mountains where thou mayest not follow me,
I pass; God's world is wide; we both are free.
And mountains where thou mayest not follow me,
I pass; God's world is wide; we both are free.
11
Or rather free thou art not! thou art bound,
Fettered by this world's anklets to its ground;
Thou hast lost thy wreath; thy chaplets are unwound.
Fettered by this world's anklets to its ground;
Thou hast lost thy wreath; thy chaplets are unwound.
If thou art gone, all roses are not dead;
The fair white lily lifts, for thee, its head;
Thy voice is hushed; the May-winds speak instead.
The fair white lily lifts, for thee, its head;
Thy voice is hushed; the May-winds speak instead.
Still, though not round thy feet, the grasses blow,
The woods, the sea-side hanging woods we know,
Watch the fern-fronds unfasten, row by row.
The woods, the sea-side hanging woods we know,
Watch the fern-fronds unfasten, row by row.
If thou art dead, the old live waves are white;
The old moon glimmers o'er the old tracks at night;
The same sun climbs the flashing midday height.
The old moon glimmers o'er the old tracks at night;
The same sun climbs the flashing midday height.
Thy ghost, thy phantom, fleeteth into air;
And, where it was, this summer rose is fair,
Sweet with the smell still of thy waving hair.
And, where it was, this summer rose is fair,
Sweet with the smell still of thy waving hair.
Thou hast not strength to face the fiery morn;
I leave thee; not with anger, not with scorn;
As twilight, when the golden day is born.
I leave thee; not with anger, not with scorn;
As twilight, when the golden day is born.
Yea, thou art twilight; glimmer with thy face
Once more upon my path, then let the race
Begin for me that leads to love's embrace.
Once more upon my path, then let the race
Begin for me that leads to love's embrace.
To love's embrace; but, lost love, not to thee;
Unto mine heart “Long-bound heart, thou art free,”
I say; “unfettered, chainless as the sea.”
Unto mine heart “Long-bound heart, thou art free,”
I say; “unfettered, chainless as the sea.”
12
Farewell, farewell; along the winds my cry
Sounds, like the sea's wail when the storm is high,
When the pent sea-shriek mixes with the sky.
Sounds, like the sea's wail when the storm is high,
When the pent sea-shriek mixes with the sky.
Farewell, farewell; no kiss, nor grasp of hand;
Only one look from seaward towards the land;
Thou, blind, art dead; God lives to understand.
Only one look from seaward towards the land;
Thou, blind, art dead; God lives to understand.
May 15, 1879.
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