Oh! hadst thou never shar'd my fate
More dark that Fate would prove;
My heart were truly desolate,
Without thy soothing Love:
But thou has't suffered for my sake,
While this relief I found,
Like fearless lips that strive to take
The poison from a wound!
My fond affection thou hast seen,
Then judge of my regret,
To think more happy thou hadst been,
If we had never met!
And has that thought been shar'd by thee?
— Ah, no! that smiling cheek
Proves more unchanging love for me
Than labour'd words could speak.
To circle thee with smiling Friends
Would once have been my pride;
Oh! let my fond love make amends
For wrongs I cannot hide:
I deem all those who wrong'd thee, lost
— For ever lost to me;
I'd trample on all ties, to boast
Fidelity to Thee.
But there are true hearts which the sight
Of sorrow summons forth;
Though known in days of past delight,
We knew not half their worth:
How unlike some who have profess'd
So much in Friendship's name,
Yet calmly pause, to think how best
They may evade her claim!
'Tis easy, as the worldlings know
To act the mentor's part,
To cavil at the words that flow
From agony of heart:
To veil, as actions they discuss,
The feelings that incense,
And censure, where the generous
Would struggle in defence!
But oh! from them to thee I turn
They'd make me loath mankind;
Far better lessons I may learn
From thy more holy mind:
The love that gives a charm to home,
I feel they cannot take;
We'll pray for happy years to come,
For one another's sake.
~ Текст приведён по изданию «Musings and Prosings: by Thomas Haynes Bayly», Boulogne, 1833.