Poems (Hornblower)/The Adieu
For works with similar titles, see The Adieu.
THE ADIEU.
I leave thee, dear one, leave thee, and long the time must be,And spring must shine, and summer bloom, ere I return to thee;And when the well-known door again is opened to my call,I perhaps may hear thy little feet resounding in the hall.
And all thy infant helplessness will then have past away,Thou wilt not have remembered me, for many a distant clay;And tones of mine, though fondest ones, will fall upon thine ear,Ev'n as a stranger's voice might come, that never had been dear.
My smile will be a stranger's smile, and yet this heart, for thee,Will utter many an absent prayer upon a bended knee;And in sadness, or in sorrow, that face will oft arise,And like a seraph's, shine o'er me with those blue, peaceful eyes.