Love
Bid adieu, my sad heart, bid adieu to thy peace
From Poems
Bid adieu, my sad heart, bid adieu to thy peace,
Thy pleasure is past, and thy sorrows increase;
See the shadows of ev'ning how far they extend,
And a long night is coming, that never may end;
For the sun is now set that enliven'd the scene,
And an age must be past ere it rises again.
Already depriv'd of its splendour and heat,
I feel thee more slowly, more heavily beat;
Perhaps overstrain'd with the quick pulse of pleasure,
Thou art glad of this respite to beat at thy leisure;
But the sigh of distress shall now weary thee more
Than the flutter and tumult of passion before.
The heart of a lover is never at rest,
With joy overwhelm'd, or with sorrow oppress'd:
When Delia is near, all is ecstasy then,
And I even forget I must lose her again:
When absent, as wretched as happy before,
Despairing I cry, I shall see her no more.
Cite this poem
MLA
Cowper, William. “Bid adieu, my sad heart, bid adieu to thy peace.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/cowper/236/.
Chicago
Cowper, William. “Bid adieu, my sad heart, bid adieu to thy peace.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/cowper/236/.
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