Page:Landon in Literary Gazette 1824.pdf/54

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Literary Gazette, 5th June, 1824, Page 364



How would my inmost heart have shrank,
    If then I could have known,
Pass a few years, and I should stand
    Beside that lake alone!

That I—so cherished, loved, carest—
    Must learn to live apart,
Bear with unkindness, wrong, and all
    That breaks a woman's heart.

I should have died; and would that then
    It had been mine to die!
I should have been but as the lute,
    Broken by its first sigh.—

I sought the world, and for a while
    Mine was a splendid dream—
Of lighted halls, of palaces.
    Of music, bloom, and beam.

My soul was sick, my ear grew pal'ed;
    I felt that pleasure’s gem
Could not be found in courtly scenes,
    The heart was not with them.

But I had yet the worst to learn:
    There was one dream that still
Held empire o'er my soul, that seemed
    Above all chance of ill.

I thought it—as I thought the stars
    All earthly change above;
When that I say that dream was false,
    I scarce need say—'twas love.

And thus could change avail to rend
    Affection's early band;
Ah! she who builds her hope on love,
    Has built indeed on sand.

But see—the wind has swept a leaf
    From yonder willow tree.
And it is sailing down the lake;
    Let that the emblem be.

As well you might hope that slight leaf,
    With its white flower, would sail
In safety down, as trust to love;—
    Love's bark is yet more frail.

That flower will sink, and will not mark
    A trace on wave or wind;
But when love disappears, it leaves
    A broken heart behind. L. E. L.