Poems by Violet Fane [i.e. M. M. Lamb] :: :: University of Virginia Library

Burn, burn, oh, burning letters!
Alas! and as ye fade away,
So shall the love that once inspired you,
So shall the heart that once desired you,
Before the breath of Time decay!

Oh, words that have been warm'd with kisses!
Oh, words that have been wet with tears!
Oh, words that have been bless'd and cherish'd!
What will remain, when ye have perish'd,
To light me in the coming years?

How shall I know my darling loved me,
Oh, by what sign, since kisses die?
Since lips grow silent, and cold faces
Learn to forget the burning traces
Of love which has been long put by?

Oh, dear blue eyes that I have lived for!
You look'd upon this written line!
Oh, hands that traced these tender phrases,
Oh, lips that once could sing my praises,
How fondly you have clung to mine!

How can I burn what he has written,
What I so long have hidden here?
How can I banish thus completely
All these dear words, which sound so sweetly,
All these sweet names, which are so dear?

Yet oh, 'tis better they should burn now,
Whilst his warm heart still beats for me,
Than that, upon some dark to-morrow,
I should gaze on them, in my sorrow,
And say, “These words are warm—not he!”

For though I would for ever cherish
Each word that he could write or say,
I would not that these letters only
Should be the sad memorials lonely
Of something that had pass'd away;

I would not read the words I loved so,
Knowing their meaning gone and dead,
A bitter mockery of pleasure,
The echo of a joyful measure
After the melody had fled!

Then, whilst I still can hope he loves me,
Then, whilst his love may last, I pray,
As warm, as passionate, as this is,
Go! wet with tears, go! warm with kisses,
Into the flames, and fade away!