Classic Poem

TO —

Thou whom of all the beings I have seen
I could adore most truly, — if our fate
Had so permitted it; but now I ween
To love were far more cruel than to hate:
O, had we met at some more happy date
I might have won thee for my angel bride;
And thou in me hadst found a truer mate
Than Constancy had ever known beside:
Our bodies as our kindred souls allied;
I know no state of happiness more blest;
For thee, deserting all, I could have died,
Or have died, all-deserted, on thy breast!
But, fare thee well! — I know that I am one
Condemned alike to live and die alone!