Parting

(In the Hall)

The last five minutes were worth the price—
The lies and the petty shifts to get them—
They sent for the cab—by my advice
Not from the stand but the place where they let them.


Bonnetted, gloved and ready to start
My darling stands—and here we count
By each beat of heart against beating heart—
How much is slipped from the whole amount
Allotted yet—and what a reward
Shall come in the end to all our trouble
When the year flies over and she is restored—
Once, for ever to me her Lord
Who would pay for her sake his past pains double—

And a gorgeous web is spread before us,
Flashing in crimson & stiff with gold,
Before our life's dark days come o'er us,
Before we turn again to the cold—
Her lip leaves my lip, her hand my hold
And below in the streets comes the waking chorus
Of a world on its wheel in torment rolled :—

        'Love is no prize,
        Fame is a lie,
        Love's mysteries
        Are set to buy.
        Honour is dead,
        Truth is all told,
        Only a goodlihead    
        Resteth in gold—
        Masters make haste
        To gather in gold'—

Out on the doubt and the ghostly pain,
Let the world's lying in at the door—
Her lip is put to my lip again,
I hold her hand for a moment more
I have learnt my lesson, the truth is plain
Love is the only perfect gain—
The worst is done with—my night is o'er

               *     *     *

Darling be quick, or you'll miss the train.

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