TRUE I have had much comfort gazing on thee, Much too perhaps in thinking I might have thee Nearly myself, a fellow soul to live with. But, weighing well man's frail and perilous tenure Of all good in the restless, wavy world, Ne'er dared I set my soul on any thing Which but a touch of time can shake to pieces. Alone in the eternal is my hope. Took I thee? that intensest joy of love Would soon grow fainter and at last dissolve. But, if I yield thee, there is something done Which from the crumbling earth my soul divorces, And gives it room to be a greater spirit. There is a greater pang, methinks, in nature When she takes back the life of a dead world Than when a new one severs from her depth Its bright, revolving birth. So I'll not hoard thee, But let thee part, reluctant, though in hope That greater happiness will thence arise. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...SONG OF THE SILENT LAND by JOHANN GAUDENZ VON SALIS-SEEWIS THE COW by ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON THE VANISHERS by JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER OUR CLUB by SYLVIA DILLAVOU BARCLAY CAPTIVE by HARRY RANDOLPH BLYTHE TAKE YOUR CHOICE: OR HERE'S GRANTLAND RICE'S METHOD by BERTON BRALEY |