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Fare Thee WellFare Thee Well
Fare Thee Well
Fare thee well! and if for ever,
Still for ever, fare thee well:
Even though unforgiving, never
`Gainst thee shall my heart rebel.
Would that breast were bared before thee
Where thy head so oft hath lain,
While that placid sleep came o`er thee
Which thou ne`er canst know again:
Would that breast, by thee glanced over,
Every inmost thought could show!
Then thou wouldst at last discover
`Twas not well to spurn it so.
Though the world for this commend thee -
Though it smile upon the blow,
Even its praises must offend thee,
Founded on another`s woe:
Though my many faults defaced me,
Could no other arm be found,
Than the one which once embraced me,
To inflict a cureless wound?
Yet, oh yet, thyself deceive not;
Love may sink by slow decay,
But by sudden wrench, believe not
Hearts can thus be torn away:
Still thine own its life retaineth,
Still must mine, though bleeding, beat;
And the undying thought which paineth
Is - that we no more may meet.
These are words of deeper sorrow
Than the wail above the dead;
Both shall live, but every morrow
Wake us from a widow`d bed.
And when thou wouldst solace gather,
When our child`s first accents flow,
Wilt thou teach her to say `Father!`
Though his care she must forego?
When her little hands shall press thee,
When her lip to thine is press`d,
Think of him whose prayer shall bless thee,
Think of him thy love had bless`d!
Should her lineaments resemble
Those thou never more may`st see,
Then thy heart will softly tremble
With a pulse yet true to me.
All my faults perchance thou knowest,
All my madness none can know;
All my hopes, where`er thou goest,
Wither, yet with thee they go.
Every feeling hath been shaken;
Pride, which not a world could bow,
Bows to thee - by thee forsaken,
Even my soul forsakes me now:
But `tis done - all words are idle -
Words from me are vainer still;
But the thoughts we cannot bridle
Force their way without the will.
Fare thee well! thus disunited,
Torn from every nearer tie,
Sear`d in heart, and lone, and blighted,
More than this I scarce can die.
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