Classic Poem

I looked back as I left the house,
And, past the chimneys and neighbour tree,
The moon upsidled through the boughs: —
I thought: " I shall a last time see
This picture; when will that time be?"

I paused amid the laugh-loud feast,
And selfward said: " I am sitting where,
Some night, when ancient songs have ceased,
" Now is the last time I shall share
Such cheer, " will be the thought I bear."

An eye-sweep back at a look-out corner
Upon a hill, as forenight wore,
Stirred me to think: " Ought I to warn her
That, though I come here times three-score,
One day 'twill be I come no more?"

Anon I reasoned there had been,
Ere quite forsaken was each spot,
Bygones whereon I'd lastly seen
That house, that feast, that maid forgot;
But when? — Ah, I remembered not!