Classic Poem

The union of thy heart and mine,
Ah yes! I know 'tis all a dream:
For I am dark, in life's decline—
Round thee the noon-day splendours beam:
But let this fair tho' flickering gleam
Of fancied love one moment shine;
Thou mayst afford at least to seem
For one brief moment to be mine.

Haste not at once to break the spell—
Before thee is the long long day
With gayer hearts than mine to dwell,
In laughing meads far off to stray:
One little hour beside me stay,
And let the conscious dream go on;
E'en now the tears are on their way
To flood my cheeks when thou art gone.

More brightness than is wholly thine
Will vanish with thy last adieu,
For whilst I dream that thou art mine
It seems my youth is with me too;
My glittering youth thy looks renew,
That turned on me so brightly beam,
As if from mine fresh light they drew—
Of light and love is all my dream.

Can dream-light to the soul be dear?
Ah! who would weep, 'mid light of day,
To see the meteors disappear,
‘The cold phosphoric fires decay’?
But when my dream-light fades away
What darkness will my soul invade?—
For sunshine or the moon's mild ray
One mass of cheerless, starless shade.

Fade phantom dream-light, full of strife,
Oh fade before that serious mien,
Which, kind and warm as day and life,
Is e'en as painless death serene.
The storm-clouds 'mid the radiance keen
Of Heav'n's deep vault how lost are they!—
So might I 'mid the azure sheen
Of that pure spirit melt away!