Lyrics of the heart With other poems. By Alaric A. Watts. With forty-one engravings on steel |
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A FAREWELL. |
 | Lyrics of the heart |  |
188
A FAREWELL.
Yes, I will join the world again,
And mingle with the crowd;
And though my mirth may be but pain,
My laughter, wilderment of brain,
At least it shall be loud.
And mingle with the crowd;
And though my mirth may be but pain,
My laughter, wilderment of brain,
At least it shall be loud.
'Tis true, to bow before the shrine
Of heartless revelry,
Is slavery to a soul like mine;
Yet better thus in chains to pine,
Than ever crouch to thee.
Of heartless revelry,
Is slavery to a soul like mine;
Yet better thus in chains to pine,
Than ever crouch to thee.
Ay, better far to steep the soul
In pleasure's sparkling tide;
Bid joys unholy sounds control
The maddening thoughts that o'er it roll,
Than wither 'neath thy pride.
In pleasure's sparkling tide;
Bid joys unholy sounds control
The maddening thoughts that o'er it roll,
Than wither 'neath thy pride.
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Yet I have loved thee—oh, how well!
But words are wild and weak;—
The depth of that pervading spell
I dare not trust my tongue to tell,
And hearts may never speak.
But words are wild and weak;—
The depth of that pervading spell
I dare not trust my tongue to tell,
And hearts may never speak.
The stubborn pride, none else might rein,
Hath stooped to love and thee;
But, as the pine upon the plain,
Bent by the blast springs up again,
So shall it fare with me.
Hath stooped to love and thee;
But, as the pine upon the plain,
Bent by the blast springs up again,
So shall it fare with me.
Though thou hast wrapped me in a cloud,
Nought now may e'er dispel,
In silentness my wrongs I'll shroud,
And love, reproach, pain, passion, crowd
Into one word—Farewell!
Nought now may e'er dispel,
In silentness my wrongs I'll shroud,
And love, reproach, pain, passion, crowd
Into one word—Farewell!
'Tis done—the task of soul is taught;
At length I've burst the spell
That, 'round my heart so firmly wrought,
Fettered each loftier, nobler thought;
And now, Farewell—Farewell!
At length I've burst the spell
That, 'round my heart so firmly wrought,
Fettered each loftier, nobler thought;
And now, Farewell—Farewell!
| Lyrics of the heart | |