When we two parted.
[Air, "When Januar' winds were blawing."]
When we two parted, on thy cheek
The young moon-beam fell soft and meek,
And the flower was budding on the lea,
When last I breathed "Farewell to thee."
But thou wert number'd with the dead,
Before that moon had wax'd and fled;
And ere the flower had lost its bloom,
The midnight dews were on thy tomb.
I saw thee not in that last hour
Which gave thee to the victor's power,
Nor heard the last recorded sigh
That 'scaped thee in thine agony.
When thou wert borne upon thy bier,
I was not with the mourners near!
Where tears and dust were strew'd o'er thee.
Alas that was no place for me!
The warmest heart that ever beat
Lies cold beneath the winding-sheet!
The fairest form earth ever knew,
Is vanish'd like the morning dew.