Page:Landon in The New Monthly 1835.pdf/8



I leant within the window That overlooks the tide; I saw our eyes were meeting, And I saw nought beside.

I knew that we were parting; That knowledge made me say More than my lips had ventured On any other day.

I asked "Will you forget me?" Too long my dreaming heart Recall'd the words we whisper'd,    As there we stood apart.

I see the open window, The careless talkers near, And how I talked as careless, To shun their smile or sneer.

I see the silent river That wander'd darkly on, While the mournful light of midnight Above the waters shone.

I said—so darkly flowing My course of life has been; With mocking lights, whose lustre But partly show'd the scene.

I felt as if the morning At length began to shine— As if my spirit's day-break Came from those eyes of thine.

I felt I deeply loved thee— With fond and earnest love— Firm as the earth beneath me, True as the stars above.

Such love as I had painted Thro' long and lonely years; Too passionately happy, My eyes were fill'd with tears.

I wish that I had shed them, They had not then been kept, For the hours that came the morrow To weep as I have wept.

For I have felt the folly Of all I fancied then; Not with my own heart's loving Am I beloved again.

I fear my evil planet, Whose fortune has denied The only heart I covet In all a world so wide.

The memory of that moment Is lingering with me yet: I said to you remember! Ah, must I say forget! L. E. L.