REGRETS

As, when the seaward ebbing tide doth pour

Out by the low sand spaces,

The parting waves slip back to clasp the shore

With lingering embraces,—

So in the tide of life that carries me

From where thy true heart dwells,

Waves of my thoughts and memories turn to thee

With lessening farewells;

Waving of hands; dreams, when the day forgets;

A care half lost in cares;

The saddest of my verses; dim regrets;

Thy name among my prayers.

I would the day might come, so waited for,

So patiently besought,

When I, returning, should fill up once more

Thy desolated thought;

And fill thy loneliness that lies apart

In still, persistent pain.

Shall I content thee, O thou broken heart,

As the tide comes again,

And brims the little sea-shore lakes, and sets

Seaweeds afloat, and fills

The silent pools, rivers and rivulets

Among the inland hills?