I think and think: yet still I fail - Why must this lady wear a veil? Why thus elect to mask her face Beneath that dainty web of lace? The tip of a small nose I see, And two red lips, set curiously...
Ever before my face there went Betwixt earth's buds and me A beauty beyond earth's content, A hope - half memory: Till in the woods one evening - Ah! eyes as dark as they,...
What needest thou? - a few brief hours of rest Wherein to seek thyself in thine own breast; A transient silence wherein truth could say Such was thy constant hope, and this thy way? -...
Her breast is cold; her hands how faint and wan! And the deep wonder of her starry eyes Seemingly lost in cloudless Paradise, And all earth's sorrow out of memory gone....
Who is it calling by the darkened river Where the moss lies smooth and deep, And the dark trees lean unmoving arms, Silent and vague in sleep, And the bright-heeled constellations pass...
None, none can tell where I shall be When the unclean earth covers me; Only in surety if thou cry Where my perplexed ashes lie, Know, 'tis but death's necessity That keeps my tongue from answering thee....