A Good-Bye

"Good-bye, my friend!"
He takes her hand--
The pressures blend:
They understand
But vaguely why, with drooping eye,
Each moans--"Good-bye!--Good-bye!"

"Dear friend, good-bye!"
O she could smile
If she might cry
A little while!--
She says, "I ought to smile--but I--
Forgive me--There!--Good-bye!"

"'Good-bye?' Ah, no:
I hate," says he,
"These 'good-byes' so!"
"And I," says she,
"Detest them so--why, I should die
Were this a real 'good-bye!'"