Poetical Remains of the Late Mrs Hemans/To a Wandering Female Singer

by Felicia Hemans

TO A WANDERING FEMALE SINGER.

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Thou hast loved and thou hast suffered!
    Unto feeling deep and strong,
Thou hast trembled like a harp's frail string—
    I know it by thy song!

Thou hast loved—it may be vainly—
    But well—oh! but too well—
Thou hast suffered all that woman's breast
    May bear—but must not tell.

Thou hast wept and thou hast parted,
    Thou hast been forsaken long,
Thou hast watched for steps that came not back—
    I know it by thy song!

By the low clear silvery gushing
    Of its music from thy breast,
By the quivering of its flute-like swell—
    A sound of the heart's unrest.

By its fond and plaintive lingering,
    On each word of grief so long,
Oh! thou hast loved and suffered much—
    I know it by thy song!