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Still as on Liffey's banks I stray,
And tread my weary, lonely way,
I muse on thee, my friend,
And wish the tedious moments past,
And wish, beloved! that at last5
This banishment might end.
Oh time! perverse, & cruel power,
Why wilt thou load the heavy hour,
Whose course is mark'd by pain?
Yet urge your too impatient flight,10
Dear white-wing'd children of delight!
Whose stay I court in vain.
Oft when most blest with thee, my Love,
Foreboding sighs would oft reprove
A bliss which fled so fleet;15
I mourn'd for every hour that past,
And still I valued most the last
And thought it still most sweet.
Ah! spendthrift time! why would'st thou waste
In scenes of pleasure all thine haste,20
And leave for absence nought?
Eager my long-lost love to meet,
Now for thy weary, ling'ring feet
The plumes are vainly sought.
But, dearest friend, for whom I long,25
Say, are my hopes of pleasure wrong,
Say, wilt thou joy to meet
Thy friend, whose every thought is thine?
And will thy soul rejoice like mine,
In love's reunion sweet?30
Oh! to my trembling heart, declare,
If thou hast felt such anxious care,
As I have fondly known?
Did'st thou with tenderest sympathy,
O'er each regretted moment sigh,35
Or have I wept alone?
Alas! regardless of our loves,
Perhaps thy faithless fancy roves,
While vainly sad I pine,
But no! I will not, can not think40
Thine heart could break the amorous link
That binds it close to mine.
