I saw thee, and the night turned not to day, Thy bright eyes put not out the tapers' light, Haply the hearth-flame only gave me sight Of thee, and thy sweet smile, and nameless way. Thou spokest, and I blanched not, but could say, 'All's well with me. How goes the world to-night?' No tremour seized me, I could feign aright Nor sobbing on thy breast my sorrows lay, But with thy going patience vanished too And in thine absence still my travail grew, Then rose the heavy groan, the bitter tear. Yet then with each new moon I could renew My soul: but how shall I survive the year Now thou art twice as far and thrice as dear? | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE NATIONAL PAINTINGS: COL. TRUMBULL'S 'THE DECLARATION...' by FITZ-GREENE HALLECK LAST WORDS TO A DUMB FRIEND by THOMAS HARDY TO DOCTOR EMPIRIC by BEN JONSON THE ENTHUSIAST, OR, THE LOVER OF NATURE by JOSEPH WARTON JOHN UNDERHILL by JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER CARMEN SYLVA by JOHANNA AMBROSIUS THE KNIGHTS: DEMOS REJUVENATED by ARISTOPHANES |