Come back to St. Andrews! Before you went away <br />You said you would be wretched where you could not see the Bay, <br />The East sands and the West sands and the castle in the sea <br />Come back to St. Andrews--St. Andrews and me. <br /> <br />Oh, it's dreary along South Street when the rain is coming down, <br />And the east wind makes the student draw more close his warm red gown, <br />As I often saw you do, when I watched you going by <br />On the stormy days to College, from my window up on high. <br /> <br />I wander on the Lade Braes, where I used to walk with you, <br />And purple are the woods of Mount Melville, budding new, <br />But I cannot bear to look, for the tears keep coming so, <br />And the Spring has lost the freshness which it had a year ago. <br /> <br />Yet often I could fancy, where the pathway takes a turn, <br />I shall see you in a moment, coming round beside the burn, <br />Coming round beside the burn, with your swinging step and free, <br />And your face lit up with pleasure at the sudden sight of me. <br /> <br />Beyond the Rock and Spindle, where we watched the water clear <br />In the happy April sunshine, with a happy sound to hear, <br />There I sat this afternoon, but no hand was holding mine, <br />And the water sounded eerie, though the April sun did shine. <br /> <br />Oh, why should I complain of what I know was bound to be? <br />For you had your way to make, and you must not think of me. <br />But a woman's heart is weak, and a woman's joys are few - <br />There are times when I could die for a moment's sight of you. <br /> <br />It may be you will come again, before my hair is grey <br />As the sea is in the twilight of a weary winter's day. <br />When success is grown a burden, and your heart would fain be free, <br />Come back to St. Andrews--St. Andrews and me.<br /><br />Robert Fuller Murray<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/come-back-to-st-andrews/
