Classic Poem

" M ILA , farewell,
For I must go!
How you shall grieve
Full well I know. "

" My lover, nay,
Be sure my heart
Will not be sad
When you depart!

" I mount one hill:
Another's set
For you to climb —
Thus I forget. "
. . . . . . . . . .

" When behind my love
Closed the new gate,
I could not work,
Nor sleep, nor wait.

" When my soldier passed
The willows thick
With tears my eyes
Were blinded quick. "

(As he neared the hill
She fainting lay —
Cold water laved
Her brow that day.

The Iron Gate
As he passed by
In a coffin new
His love did lie.)

Four steeds a-gallop —
" Young soldier, haste!
The deathbell tolls
For your love so chaste. "

" Nay, let it ring —
And bury her deep;
For she was not sorry;
She would not weep. "

The soldier young
Has her threshold gained:
Ah, heavy the tears
His eyes down rained!

" O little white feet
So dear to me,
How have they bound ye
Thus straitly!

" In Ukraina
When I went to the war,
They walked with me
So very far.

" Your dear white hands
Tight-clasped remain.
They rested in mine
When I marched to Ukraine.

" O you dear thin lips
So closely sealed.
How you talked to me,
And love revealed.

" O my dear red cheeks
How pale they lie.
They bloomed like the rose
When to war went I.

" Those dear black eyes
That darkened be,
When I went to Ukraine
How they looked at me! "