Classic Poem

'E RE you, F IDELIO , these soft lines shall view,
We shall have spoke that painful word, adieu!
I know the anguish of your faithful heart,
I know you thought it more than death to part;
But now 'tis done; — the dreaded trial's o'er,
Your lov'd E USEBIA , you behold no more.
No more on willing feet together walk,
Or of our joys or of our sorrows talk;
When each, as to a friend sincere and kind,
Disclos'd the fond emotions of the mind.
Days, weeks, and months must in succession glide,
'Ere you, again, will join E USEBIA'S side.
O'er hills and dales, she takes her distant flight,
And mountain tops obscure her from your sight;
Long lanes, and fields, and meadows cloath'd in green,
And many a weary step, lies now between.
Perhaps, 'ere this, a tear bedews your eye,
And your sad bosom heaves a tender sigh;
But spare your tears, of this your heart assure,
Mine eyes enough for you and I procure.
So let no doubts your constant heart assail,
For none but you, F IDELIO , shall prevail.
Shou'd Heav'n advance me to the highest sphere,
You only are, and ever shall be dear.
That gen'rous heart, which sought not gold, but me,
Shall meet its equal, noble, gen'rous, free.
If fortune smiles, I may again return,
And bid my just F IDELIO cease to mourn.
Our constant hearts, our willing hands shall join,
Thy lov'd E USEBIA shall be wholly thine.
But if on earth we ne'er shall meet again,
In this afflictive world of grief and pain;
If Heav'n, all-wise, erects my nuptial bed,
Within the peaceful regions of the dead,
I hope to meet you in that world above,
Where it will be adjudg'd no crime to love:
Where fortune cannot frown, nor friends dismay,
But all be joy through one eternal day.