Adieu

Adieu

Lady! the day of brief enjoyment o'er,

We bid adieu, perhaps to meet no more -
And, like the summer's soft and dewy sky,
Keep that our night of darkness is so nigh
[ ] it as sweet to wander here with thee.
[ ] in the spell thy presence could decree
Which made each passing moment, hour, and
day,
Like silver streams, glide silently away -
Till, swiftly over, as a summer shower,
Time brings us to the last, the parting hour.
Farewell - and tho' we never meet below,
Still shall the lucid stream of memory flow,
And show us bright its crystal bed,
Things numbered with the distant and the dead;
Where, fancy aiding, I shall sweetly see
Thy image, as it looks this day to me,
Yet lovely (tho' arrayed in glistening tears)
Thro' the long vista of departed years.
And tho' ambition in my bosom glow,
To leave an honourable name below,
I will not ask from fame a prouder meed,
Than what by the remembrance is decreed -
Let glory pass - let honour's breath depart,
So that my name survive within thy heart.

Unattributed

1:43, p. 172

1828.01.18