Classic Poem

Come, let me look once more close in your eyes,
Come, let me feel the beating of your heart;
Our time has ended; we must break the ties;
God knows I love you, but we two must part.

Nay, do not ask me why I turn away,
And why these words at parting seem so cold;
Nay, precious, do not sigh and beg me stay;—
Our dream must be a story left untold.

Ah, ere you came, the dead leaves hid my soul,
My heart was buried in a shroud of snow:
Then, like the Spring across the waste you stole,
And made the birds sing and the blossoms blow.

How sweet you were, O precious, when you came
To let me know my soul had found its mate;
My Autumn skies were flushed with vernal flame—
And then I saw the warning face of Fate!

Come, clasp me once before I turn to go,
Heed not these tear-drops as I kiss your feet;
How sweet my dreams were, you shall never know,
How blissful, blissful, yet how fleet, how fleet!

Nay, do not blame me, it is best—is best!
Forget me, though you take away my heart;
There! see, I laugh, and turn it to a jest—
God knows I love you, but we two must part.