Classic Poem

Oh! this continued absence from thy side! —
When will it cease? When will this lonely heart
Know thy companionship? When will thy breast
Pillow this aching head, and set at rest
The crowds of tantalizing fantasies
That throng my brain? Stern edict! to divide
The worshipper from his idol, or to part
The olive and the vine in their embrace!
Ev'n as the heavens are mirrored in the seas,
So in my mind reflected is thy face:
I look into its depths, and there I trace
Thy image unmistakably impressed —
Love's true daguerreotype. But even there
Thou art not — yet thou art — I joy, and I despair.