BETA

The Worst of It.

That is the worst of it. Passion has passed,1
Sorrow has sobbed itself out ;2
Our hearts have grown tired of hoping, at last,3
Our spirits are weary of doubt.4
With a slow self-contempt, with a sorry surprise,5
We look on our dream as it is :6
The joy of our souls ; the delight of our eyes ;7
A poor ghastly relic like this !8
The substance is gone, but the shadow remains9
To haunt and bewilder us yet :10
We have cancelled our bond, we have broken our
chains,11
But, dear, shall we ever forget ?12
Will our eyes ever meet, will our hands ever touch,13
Nor we two remember the thrill14
That once had meant for us so much, oh so much,15
That we sigh for the want of it still ?16
The tone of the voice and the turn of the speech17
Have a separate language for us ;18
We two, who have learnt all that love has to teach,19
Have lore that must cling to us thus.20
With proud heads averted, with cold hands apart,21
We pass the old haunts where we met ;22
But the spell they have woven lies deep in each heart,23
I think we shall never forget !24
And so I’m afraid, dear, that just for the sake25
Of the sweet dream whose glory has ceased,26
I’ve forgiven the wrong, I’ve forgotten the ache ;27
I fain would keep kindness at least.28
We two, in whose path such strange hazards have
crossed,29
Might ask from our lives this amends,30
By all we have won, and by all we have lost,31
To turn from the ruin as friends.32
And that is the worst of it, I am afraid :33
Time never remits us a debt ;34
The Nemesis stalks where the folly is laid :35
We may hate what we cannot forget !36