Love Unchangeable

Yes! still I love thee: — Time, who sets
His signet on my brow,
And dims my sunken eye, forgets
The heart he could not bow; —
Where love, that cannot perish, grows
For one, alas! that little knows
How love may sometimes last;
Like sunshine wasting in the skies,
When clouds are overcast.
The dew-drop hanging o'er the rose,
Within its robe of light,
Can never touch a leaf that blows,
Though teeming to the sight;
And yet it still will linger there,
Like hopeless love without despair, —
A snow-drop in the sun!
A moment finely exquisite,
Alas! but only one.
I would not have thy married heart
Think momently of me, —
Nor would I tear the cords apart,
That bind me so to thee;
No! while my thoughts seem pure and mild,
Like dew upon the roses wild,
I would not have thee know,
The stream that seems to thee so still,
Has such a tide below!
Enough! that in delicious dreams
I see thee and forget —
Enough, that when the morning beams,
I feel my eyelids wet!
Yet, could I hope, when Time shall fall
The darkness, for creation's pall,
To meet thee, — and to love, —
I would not shrink from aught below,
Nor ask for more above.