WHEN the dews are earliest falling, When the evening glen is grey, Ere thou lookest, ere thou speakest, My beloved, I depart, and I return to thee, -- Return, return, return. Dost thou watch me while I traverse Haunts of men, beneath the sun -- Dost thou list while I bespeak them With a voice whose cheer is thine? O my brothers! men, my brothers, You are mine, and I am yours; I am yours to cheer and succour, I am yours for hope and aid: Lo, my hand to raise and stay you, Lo, my arm to guard and keep, My voice to rouse and warn you, And my heart to warm and calm; My heart to lend the life it owes To her that is not here, In the power of her that dwelleth Where you know not -- no, nor guess not -- Whom you see not; unto whom, -- Ere the evening star hath sunken, Ere the glow-worm lights its lamp, Ere the wearied workman slumbers, -- I return, return, return. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE CAT OF CATS by WILLIAM BRIGHTY RANDS RAIN by ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON ROSAMOND: KING HENRY'S SONG by JOSEPH ADDISON HOMAGE TO QUINTUS SEPTIMIUS FLORENTIS CHRISTIANUS (1) by ANYTE RELEASE by EDMUND CHARLES BLUNDEN SCARLETT ROCKS by THOMAS EDWARD BROWN THE HUNTER OF THE PRAIRIES by WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT MASQUE AT THE MARRIAGE OF THE EARL OF SOMERSET: FOURTH SQUIRE by THOMAS CAMPION OBSERVATIONS IN THE ART OF ENGLISH POESY: 17. AN ELEGY by THOMAS CAMPION |