IN those eyes that glisten as in pity for my pain, Are they gems, or only dew-drops? Can they, will they long remain? Why the strength of tyrant beauty thus, with seeming ruth restrain? Better breathe my last before thee, than in lingering grief remain. To yon planet, Fate has given every month to wax and wane; And -- thy world of blushing brightness, -- can it, will it long remain? Asuf! why in mournful numbers, of thine absence thus complain, Chance has join'd us, chance has parted! -- nought on earth can long remain. In the world mayst thou, beloved! live exempt from grief and pain. On my lips the breath is fleeting -- can it, will it long remain? | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...SEVEN TWILIGHTS: 2 by CONRAD AIKEN ARCHIMEDES LAST FORAY by STEPHEN VINCENT BENET PLACE FOR A THIRD by ROBERT FROST CACHE LA POUDRE by JAMES GALVIN A SEA-SHORE GRAVE by SIDNEY LANIER MARTHA WASHINGTON by SIDNEY LANIER TO MY CLASS: ON CERTAIN FRUITS AND FLOWERS SENT ... SICKNESS by SIDNEY LANIER |