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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


TO MYRA by THOMAS KIBBLE HERVEY

First Line: I LEAVE THEE NOW, MY SPIRIT'S LOVE
Last Line: AND LET -- OH, LET US DIE TOGETHER!
Subject(s): LOVE;

I LEAVE thee now, my spirit's love!
All bright in youth's unclouded light;
With sunshine round, and hope above,
Thou scarce hast learnt to dream of night.

Yet night will come! -- thy bounding heart
Must watch its idols melt away;
And, oh! thy soul must learn to part
With much that made thy childhood gay!

But should we meet in darker years,
When clouds have gather'd round thy brow,
How far more precious in thy tears,
Than in thy glow of gladness, now! --

Then come to me, -- thy wounded heart
Shall find it has a haven still,
One bosom -- faithless as thou art, --
All -- all thine own, mid good and ill!

Thou leavest me for the world! then go!
Thou art too young to feel it yet,
But time may teach thy heart to know
The worth of those who ne'er forget.

And, should that world look dark and cold,
Then turn to him whose silent truth
Will still love on, when worn and old,
The form it loved so well in youth!

Like that young bird that left its nest,
Lured, by the warm and sunny sky,
From flower to flower, but found no rest,
And sought its native vale to die; --

Go! leave my soul to pine alone;
But, should the hopes that woo thee, wither,
Return, my own beloved one!
And let -- oh, let us die together!



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