Poems (Hooper)/After the War
AFTER THE WAR.
Fear thou not reproach or blame, All our love is at an end;Yes, your lover died to-day,When I saw you shrink away: Here remaineth but a friend.
I have only one arm left, Not enough to hold you fast;Deeply, too, my brow is scarred,And my cheek was sadly marred By the shot that through it passed.
I would shame your parlor, dear, With this marred and mournful brow,And this coat, with empty sleeve.I could scarcely, I believe, Dance with grace the "German" now.
I am but a useless wreck. Once a hope before me beamed Of a meeting—not like this—O the clasp and O the kiss That I dreamed of—only dreamed!
Take my hand, but speak no word, Let the silence round us flow.We shall never meet again,In the sunshine or the rain, All is over—let us go.