Love

Why will you haunt me unawares?

by Mathilde Blind 1841–1896

From The Ascent of Man (1889)

LoveDeath & Dying

Why will you haunt me unawares,
And walk into my sleep,
Pacing its shadowy thoroughfares,
Where long-dried perfume scents the airs,
While ghosts of sorrow creep,
Where on Hope's ruined altar-stairs,
With ineffectual beams,
The Moon of Memory coldly glares
Upon the land of dreams?

My yearning eyes were fain to look
Upon your hidden face;
Their love, alas! you could not brook,
But in your own you mutely took
My hand, and for a space
You wrung it till I throbbed and shook,
And woke with wildest moan
And wet face channelled like a brook
With your tears or my own.

MLA

Blind, Mathilde. “Why will you haunt me unawares?” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/blind/8/.

Chicago

Blind, Mathilde. “Why will you haunt me unawares?” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/blind/8/.

Read this poem with the Codex →

More by Mathilde Blind