1809

THE FAREWELL

by William Cullen Bryant

THE FAREWELL

[WRITTEN IN 1809] -

"O thou, whose cherished image seems

A portion of my heart,

Whose eyes of light make glad my dreams,

Farewell, for now we part.

The sail is swelling in the bay

That bears me on my distant way,

For years to rove the dreary sea-

For years- and think of only thee. -

"Yet will that beauteous image make

The dreary sea less drear,

And thy remembered smile will wake

The hope that tramples fear,

When I shall face the tempest's wrath,

Or struggle through the dangerous path

Where the blue icebergs, vast and steep,

Drifting and dashing, crowd the deep. -

"Then, too, when heaven with clouds is dark

And wild winds sweep the vale,

Wilt thou not think of him whose bark

Strives with the polar gale?

Wilt thou not think, and softly pray

For the sea-wanderer far away,

That, all his toils and perils o'er,

His hand may clasp thy hand once more? -

"But shouldst thou hear no more of me,

Or hear that I have died

And sleep within that icy sea,

Or on its desert side,

Will not a pang thy bosom press,

Even in thy Pride of loveliness-

A tear in thy sweet eyelids shine

For him whose latest thought was thine?" - -