Queen Berengaria's Courtesy, and Other Poems By the Lady E. Stuart Wortley. In Three Vols |
 | I, II, III. |
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GO, AND BE HAPPY! |
 | Queen Berengaria's Courtesy, and Other Poems |  |
GO, AND BE HAPPY!
Go, and be happy, mid the gay,
Chainless amid the free;
Cast Memory to the winds, I pray—
Waste not one thought on me!—
Chainless amid the free;
Cast Memory to the winds, I pray—
Waste not one thought on me!—
It was despair, in stern excess,
'Twas death unto my heart,
To see thee love me less and less—
Now 'twill be none to part!—
'Twas death unto my heart,
To see thee love me less and less—
Now 'twill be none to part!—
274
Already from thee parted more
Than seas, than worlds can part,
Long, long have I learned to deplore
The absence of the Heart!
Than seas, than worlds can part,
Long, long have I learned to deplore
The absence of the Heart!
Go, and be happy! take with thee
The wishes that were vain
To waste on mine own destiny;—
I shall not smile again!—
The wishes that were vain
To waste on mine own destiny;—
I shall not smile again!—
Who saith I have not hope?—I have—
And all my Soul but lives—
In that one hope—that Soul—thy slave,
That faints—and that forgives!
And all my Soul but lives—
In that one hope—that Soul—thy slave,
That faints—and that forgives!
One hope—one hope, and only one—
Shines sunlike in my breast,
'Tis that—though I must sink undone—
Thou mayst be ever blest.—
Shines sunlike in my breast,
'Tis that—though I must sink undone—
Thou mayst be ever blest.—
275
Thy happiness is my One Hope—
Strong as my self-despair—
My Spirit cannot wholly droop
While that Hope dwelleth there.
Strong as my self-despair—
My Spirit cannot wholly droop
While that Hope dwelleth there.
Go—and be happy then—be free—
Nor waste one thought again
Upon my wretchedness and me,
Lest that should give thee pain.
Nor waste one thought again
Upon my wretchedness and me,
Lest that should give thee pain.
Spare me the least, the lightest grief—
In thy Heart!—Spare, oh! spare!
Mine anguish should not know relief
If I was wounded there!
In thy Heart!—Spare, oh! spare!
Mine anguish should not know relief
If I was wounded there!
Spare me then—till in death I rest—
The intolerable Woe—
Though broken-hearted, still how blest—
Thy Happiness to know!
The intolerable Woe—
Though broken-hearted, still how blest—
Thy Happiness to know!
276
Go, and be joyous, mid the gay,
Untrammelled, mid the free—
And if thou feel'st for me, I pray,
Waste not one thought on me!
Untrammelled, mid the free—
And if thou feel'st for me, I pray,
Waste not one thought on me!
Oh! it was torture's worst excess—
Death's anguish to my heart—
To watch thy love wane less and less—
Now 'twill be none to part!
Death's anguish to my heart—
To watch thy love wane less and less—
Now 'twill be none to part!
| Queen Berengaria's Courtesy, and Other Poems | |