Poems (Nealds)/Sonnet (How long the shortest separation seems)
For works with similar titles, see Sonnet.
SONNET.
How long the shortest separation seems
Unto the tender and the gentle heart
From those it loves—oh! it is grief to part
Ev'n for a week; and the full bosom deems
That period eternity, and mourns
Unceasingly, till the lov'd one returns.
But, oh! how fruitless is the hope—how vain
To think that on this earth we can retain
At our own will, the valued friends we love!
For ev'ry day, alas! to us must prove
That separations, long, and sad, must come.
That one by one we sink into the tomb.
Why should we look for happiness?—on earth
'Tis found not; but to heav'n it owes its birth.
Unto the tender and the gentle heart
From those it loves—oh! it is grief to part
Ev'n for a week; and the full bosom deems
That period eternity, and mourns
Unceasingly, till the lov'd one returns.
But, oh! how fruitless is the hope—how vain
To think that on this earth we can retain
At our own will, the valued friends we love!
For ev'ry day, alas! to us must prove
That separations, long, and sad, must come.
That one by one we sink into the tomb.
Why should we look for happiness?—on earth
'Tis found not; but to heav'n it owes its birth.