Landon in The Literary Gazette 1822/Absence 1

by Letitia Elizabeth Landon

67

Literary Gazette, 19th October, 1822, Pages 664

SONGS ON ABSENCE.

My heart is with thee, Iove! though now
      Thou'rt far away from me:
I envy even my own thoughts,
      For they may fly to thee.

I dream of thee, and wake and weep
      So sweet a dream should fly;
I pray the winds to bear thee, Love!
      An echo of my sigh.

I look upon thy pictured face,
      And to thy semblance say
The gentle things I'd say to thee
      If thou wert not away.

I let no other share my grief,
      Lest they should feel the same;
I'm jealous that another's lip
      Should only breathe thy name.

I nurse my silent thoughts of thee,
      As misers hoard their gold,
Or as words of some powerful spell,
      Too sacred to be told.

I read once of a magic glass
      An Eastern Fairy made;
All that was present to the thought
      Was in that glass pourtrayed.

In one thing changed, how I do wish
      The magic mirror mine:
All shapes were imaged there, but I
      Would only wish for thine!

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