Page:Poems Davidson.djvu/34

"'Thy raven locks, for many a day,
 I've bound around thy brow;
And now that I am old and lame,
 I prithee let me go.

"'"Have I not, many a weary hour,
 Peep'd o'er thy book or pen,
And seen what this poor mangled form
 Will ne'er behold again?

"'"A faithful servant I have been,
 But ah! my day is past;
And all my hope, and all my wish,
 Is liberty at last.

"'"Mark but the glittering, well-filled shelf
 Where my companions lie;
Are they not fairer than myself,
 And younger far than I?

"'O! then in pity hie thee there,
 Where thousands wait thy call,
And twine one in thy raven hair,
 To shroud my shameful fall.

"'My days are hast'ning to their close,
 Crack! crack! goes every tooth;
A thousand pains, a thousand woes,
 Remind me of my youth.

"'Adieu then—in distress I die—
 My last hold fails me now;