I WATCH'D thee when the foe was at our side, Ready to strike at him -- or thee and me, Were safety hopeless -- rather than divide Aught with one loved save love and liberty. I watch'd thee on the breakers, when the rock Received our prow and all was storm and fear, And bade thee cling to me through every shock; This arm would be thy bark, or breast thy bier. I watch'd thee when the fever glazed thine eyes, Yielding my couch and stretch'd me on the ground, When overworn with watching, ne'er to rise From thence if thou an early grave hadst found. The earthquake came, and rock'd the quivering wall, And men and nature reel'd as if with wine. Whom did I seek around the tottering hall? For thee. Whose safety first provide for? Thine. And when convulsive throes denied my breath The faintest utterance to my fading thought, To thee -- to thee -- e'en in the gasp of death My spirit turn'd, oh! oftener than it ought. Thus much and more; and yet thou lov'st me not, And never wilt! Love dwells not in our will. Nor can I blame thee, though it be my lot To strongly, wrongly, vainly love thee still. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE SUPPLIANTS: THE WORLD'S HARMONIOUS PLAN by AESCHYLUS AT BAY RIDGE, LONG ISLAND by THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH SAW YE JOHNNIE COMIN'? by JOANNA BAILLIE THREE GUESTS by ETHEL SKIPTON BARRINGER PIANO TUNING by MARIANNE BORUCH MY DELIGHT by GAMALIEL BRADFORD TO A LADY WHO HAD LOST A RELATIVE by JOHN GARDINER CALKINS BRAINARD WITH YOU by THOMAS H. BRIGGS JR. TOWARDS DEMOCRACY: PART 2. I HEARD A VOICE by EDWARD CARPENTER |