The heart that once was rich with light, <br />And happy in your grace, <br />Now lieth cold beneath the scorn <br />That gathers on your face; <br />And every joy it knew before, <br />And every templed dream, <br />Is paler than the dying flash <br />On yonder mountain stream. <br />The soul, regretting foundered bliss <br />Amid the wreck of years, <br />Hath mourned it with intensity <br />Too deep for human tears! <br /> <br />The forest fadeth underneath <br />The blast that rushes by -- <br />The dripping leaves are white with death, <br />But Love will never die! <br />We both have seen the starry moss <br />That clings where Ruin reigns, <br />And ~one~ must know ~his~ lonely breast <br />Affection still retains; <br />Through all the sweetest hopes of life, <br />That clustered round and round, <br />Are lying now, like withered things, <br />Forsaken -- on the ground. <br /> <br />'Tis hard to think of what we were, <br />And what we might have been, <br />Had not an evil spirit crept <br />Across the tranquil scene: <br />Had fervent feelings in your soul <br />Not failed nor ceased to shine <br />As pure as those existing on, <br />And burning still in mine. <br />Had every treasure at your feet <br />That I was wont to pour, <br />Been never thrown like worthless weeds <br />Upon a barren shore! <br /> <br />The bitter edge of grief has passed, <br />I would not now upbraid; <br />Or count to you the broken vows, <br />So often idly made! <br />I would not cross your path to chase <br />The falsehood from your brow -- <br />I ~know~, with all that borrowed light, <br />You are not happy now: <br />Since those that once have trampled down <br />Affection's early claim, <br />Have lost a peace they need not hope <br />To find on earth again. <br /><br /><br />Henry Kendall<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/etheline/
