Songs of the Affections, with Other Poems/Thekla at her Lover's Grave
THEKLA AT HER LOVER'S GRAVE.[1]
Thither where he lies buried!
That single spot is the whole world to me.
Coleridge's Wallenstein.
Thy voice was in my soul! it call'd me on;
O my lost friend! thy voice was in my soul:
From the cold, faded world, whence thou art gone,
To hear no more life's troubled billows roll,
I come, I come!
Now speak to me again! we loved so well—
We loved! oh! still, I know that still we love!
I have left all things with thy dust to dwell,
Through these dim aisles in dreams of thee to rove:
This is my home!
Speak to me in the thrilling minster's gloom!
Speak! thou hast died, and sent me no farewell!
I will not shrink;—oh! mighty is the tomb,
But one thing mightier, which it cannot quell,
This woman's heart!
This lone, full, fragile heart!—the strong alone
In love and grief—of both the burning shrine!
Thou, my soul's friend! with grief hast surely done,
But with the love which made thy spirit mine,
Say, couldst thou part ?
I hear the rustling banners; and I hear
The wind's low singing through the fretted stone;
I hear not thee; and yet I feel thee near—
What is this bound that keeps thee from thine own?
Breathe it away!
I wait thee—I adjure thee! hast thou known
How I have loved thee? couldst thou dream it all?
Am I not here, with night and death alone,
And fearing not? and hath my spirit's call
O'er thine no sway?
Thou canst not come! or thus I should not weep!
Thy love is deathless—but no longer free!
Soon would its wing triumphantly o'ersweep
The viewless barrier, if such power might be,
Soon, soon, and fast!
But I shall come to thee! our souls' deep dreams,
Our young affections, have not gush'd in vain;
Soon in one tide shall blend the sever'd streams,
The worn heart break its bonds—and death and pain
Be with the past!
- ↑ See Wallenstein, Act 6th.