Comfort in Absence

Oh, love, remember when between us lies
The bitter, barren sea, the dreary land,
How utterly alone I then shall stand.
Lo! not with thine, but with my sadder eyes.
Look thou upon the cold, unpitying skies;
Or, when glad birds beneath thy window band,
As when we, silent, sitting hand in hand,
Watch'd the gray windless autumn morning rise,

Since I would have my soul still beat in thine.
Be sad for me, and in thy spirit say, —
"How dark for him, and desolate this day,
From gray beginning unto gray decline."
So shall I gather strength to go my way,
Feeling thy soul compassionating mine.