Song

Our hearts ever answer in tune and in time, love,
As octave to octave, and rhyme unto rhyme, love:
I cannot weep but your tears will be flowing,

You cannot smile but my cheek will be glowing;
I would not die without you at my side, love,
You will not linger when I shall have died, love.

Come to me, dear, ere I die of my sorrow,

Rise on my gloom like the sun of to-morrow;

983

Strong, swift, and fond are the words which I speak, love,
With a song on your lip and a smile on your cheek, love.
Come, for my heart in your absence is weary,—
Haste, for my spirit is sickened and dreary,—
Come to my arms which alone should caress thee,

Come to the heart which is throbbing to press thee!

SONG

Joseph Brenan [1829-1857]

"Tis said that absence conquers love!

But, oh! believe it not;

I've tried, alas! its power to prove,

But thou art not forgot.

Lady, though fate has bid us part,
Yet still thou art as dear,

As fixed in this devoted heart,
As when I clasped thee here.

I plunge into the busy crowd,
And smile to hear thy name;
And yet, as if I thought aloud,
They know me still the same;'
And when the wine-cup passes round,
I toast some other fair,—

But when I ask my heart the sound,

Thy name is echoed there.

And when some other name I learn,

And try to whisper love,

Still will my heart to thee return

Like the returning dove.

In vain! I never can forget,
And would not be forgot;
For I must bear the same regret,
Whate'er may be my lot.

E'en as the wounded bird will seek
Its favorite bower to die,

So, lady! I would hear thee speak,
And yield my parting sigh.
'Tis said that absence conquers love!
But, oh! believe it not;

I've tried, alas! its power to prove,

But thou art not forgot.

Frederick William Thomas [1811-1864]

PARTING

Too fair, I may not call thee mine:
Too dear, I may not see

Those eyes with bridal beacons shine;
Yet, Darling, keep for me-
Empty and hushed, and safe apart,-
One little corner of thy heart.

Thou wilt be happy, dear! and bless
Thee: happy mayst thou be.
I would not make thy pleasure less;
Yet, Darling, keep for me→
My life to light, my lot to leaven,-
One little corner of thy Heaven.

Good-by, dear heart! I go to dwell
A weary way from thee;
Our first kiss is our last farewell;

Yet, Darling, keep for me-

Who wander outside in the night,—

One little corner of thy light.

Gerald Massey [1828-1907]

A Song of Autumn

985

THE PARTING HOUR

Nor yet, dear love, not yet: the sun is high;
You said last night, "At sunset I will go."
Come to the garden, where when blossoms die
No word is spoken; it is better so:

Ah! bitter word "Farewell."

Hark! how the birds sing sunny songs of spring!
Soon they will build, and work will silence them;
So we grow less light-hearted as years bring
Life's grave responsibilities-and then
The bitter word "Farewell."

The violets fret to fragrance 'neath your feet,
Heaven's gold sunlight dreams aslant your hair:
No flower for me! your mouth is far more sweet.
O, let my lips forget, while lingering there,
Love's bitter word "Farewell."

Sunset already! have we sat so long?

The parting hour, and so much left unsaid! The garden has grown silent-void of song, Our sorrow shakes us with a sudden dread! Ah! bitter word "Farewell."

Olive Custance [1874

A SONG OF AUTUMN

ALL through the golden weather

Until the autumn fell,

Our lives went by together
So wildly and so well.

But autumn's wind uncloses

The heart of all your flowers;

I think, as with the roses,

So hath it been with ours.

Like some divided river

Your ways and mine will be,
To drift apart for ever,

For ever till the sea.

And yet for one word spoken,

One whisper of regret,

The dream had not been broken,

And love were with us yet.
Rennell Rodd [1858-

THE GIRL I LEFT BEHIND ME

THE dames of France are fond and free,
And Flemish lips are willing,

And soft the maids of Italy,

And Spanish eyes are thrilling;

Still, though I bask beneath their smile,
Their charms fail to bind me,

And my heart falls back to Erin's Isle,
To the girl I left behind me.

For she's as fair as Shannon's side,
And purer than its water,
But she refused to be my bride

Though many a year I sought her;
Yet, since to France I sailed away,
Her letters oft remind me
That I promised never to gainsay

The girl I left behind me.

She says, "My own dear love, come home,

My friends are rich and many,

Or else abroad with you I'll roam,

A soldier stout as any;

If you'll not come, nor let me go,

I'll think you have resigned me,"

My heart nigh broke when I answered "No,"

To the girl I left behind me.

Remember or Forget

For never shall my true love brave
A life of war and toiling,
And never as a skulking slave

I'll tread my native soil on;
But, were it free or to be freed,

The battle's close would find me To Ireland bound, nor message need

From the girl I left behind me.

987

Unknown

"WHEN WE ARE PARTED"

WHEN we are parted let me lie

In some far corner of thy heart,
Silent, and from the world apart,
Like a forgotten melody:
Forgotten of the world beside,

Cherished by one, and one alone,
For some loved memory of its own;
So let me in thy heart abide

When we are parted.

When we are parted, keep for me

The sacred stillness of the night;

That hour, sweet Love, is mine by right;

Let others claim the day of thee!

The cold world sleeping at our feet,

My spirit shall discourse with thine;-
When stars upon thy pillow shine,
At thy heart's door I stand and beat,
Though we are parted.

Hamilton Aidé [1826-1906]

REMEMBER OR FORGET

I SAT beside the streamlet,
I watched the water flow,
As we together watched it

One little year ago: