If sometimes in the haunts of men <br />Thine image from my breast may fade, <br />The lonely hour presents again <br />The semblance of thy gentle shade: <br />And now that sad and silent hour <br />Thus much of thee can still restore, <br />And sorrow unobserved may pour <br />The plaint she dare not speak before. <br /> <br />Oh, pardon that in crowds awhile <br />I waste one thought I owe to thee, <br />And self?condemn'd, appear to smile, <br />Unfaithful to thy memory: <br />Nor deem that memory less dear, <br />That then I seem not to repine; <br />I would not fools should overhear <br />One sigh that should be wholly thine. <br /> <br />If not the goblet pass unquaff'd, <br />It is not drain'd to banish care; <br />The cup must hold a deadlier draught, <br />That brings a Lethe for despair. <br />And could Oblivion set my soul <br />From all her troubled visions free, <br />I'd dash to earth the sweetest bowl <br />That drown'd a single thought of thee. <br /> <br />For wert thou vanish'd from my mind, <br />Where could my vacant bosom turn? <br />And who would then remain behind <br />To honour thine abandon'd Um? <br />No, no - it is my sorrow's pride <br />That last dear duty to fulfil: <br />Though all the world forget beside, <br />'Tis meet that I remember still. <br /> <br />For well I know, that such had been <br />Thy gentle care for him, who now <br />Unmourn'd shall quit this mortal scene, <br />Where none regarded him, but thou: <br />And, oh! I feel in that was given <br />A blessing never meant for me; <br />Thou wert too like a dream of Heaven <br />For earthly Love to merit thee.<br /><br />George Gordon Byron<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/if-sometimes-in-the-haunts-of-men/
