THE LOVER'S QUARREL.
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And seeks amid its very pain some fond excuse to find,
For what was dear, and may not all at once be cast behind;
For what was dear, and may not all at once be cast behind;
I speak of what I know full well, for thus it chanced of yore,
(I know not now where blame should rest so lay it at the door
Of Love, that having given so much, will still exact the more.)
(I know not now where blame should rest so lay it at the door
Of Love, that having given so much, will still exact the more.)
With me and Her I love—one Eve our parting was in scorn,
Oh! dimly, sadly broke the next and many an afterdawn,
With sense of something gone from me, and evermore withdrawn;
Oh! dimly, sadly broke the next and many an afterdawn,
With sense of something gone from me, and evermore withdrawn;
For Sunrise used within my heart to wake a matin chime
Of bells, that rung me to a strife untold as yet in rhyme,
Though fierce as Dragon-Fight of old—the Lover's against Time!
Of bells, that rung me to a strife untold as yet in rhyme,
Though fierce as Dragon-Fight of old—the Lover's against Time!
Like Errant Knight I pressed him sore and found him hard to kill,
Yet strove with action and emprise to gain upon him still,
And with some task of nobleness each lingering pause to fill
Yet strove with action and emprise to gain upon him still,
And with some task of nobleness each lingering pause to fill
