A FAREWELL
Thou wilt not love me, then good-bye, good-bye!
The time will come when I shall feel this less;
When I shall find a heart that will reply
More tenderly to this my tenderness.
Yet love like mine—which thine may never bless—
'Tis not in nature to feel twice; to sigh
After its loss too long and bitterly
Were weakness—yet 'tis loss of happiness.
I may hereafter, I shall love anew,
But never, never as I now love thee;
And I may wed, in heart remaining true.
And so, beloved, I would wish to be.
I would not choose, if all might come again,
Not to have loved thee, though I loved in vain.[1]
The time will come when I shall feel this less;
When I shall find a heart that will reply
More tenderly to this my tenderness.
Yet love like mine—which thine may never bless—
'Tis not in nature to feel twice; to sigh
After its loss too long and bitterly
Were weakness—yet 'tis loss of happiness.
I may hereafter, I shall love anew,
But never, never as I now love thee;
And I may wed, in heart remaining true.
And so, beloved, I would wish to be.
I would not choose, if all might come again,
Not to have loved thee, though I loved in vain.[1]
- ↑ In the rough draft, this poem is headed by the words "To Adelaide."
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