PARTED.

My spirit holds you, Dear,

Though worlds away,” —

This to their absent ones

Many can say.

“Thoughts, fancies, hopes, desires,

All must be yours;

Sweetest my memories still

Of our past hours.”

I can say more than this

Now, lover mine,—

Here can I feel your kiss

Warmer than wine,

Feel your arms folding me,

Know that quick breath

That aye my soul would stir

Even in death.

‘ Tis not a memory, Love,

Thoughts of the past,

Fleeting remembrances

Which may not last,—

But, as I shut my eyes

Know I the sign

That you are here, yourself,

Bodily, mine.—

So, Love, I cannot say

“My spirit flies

Over the widening space,

Under dull skies,

To where your spirit is,” —

Though I may know

Seas part us, earth divides,

It is not so

Here to me, now, for you

Lean on my heart.

Who says that you and I

Ever can part?—