Literature Network » Thomas Hardy » Late Lyrics and Earlier » I Was Not He

I Was Not He

(SONG)
   I was not he--the man
Who used to pilgrim to your gate,
At whose smart step you grew elate,
   And rosed, as maidens can,
      For a brief span.
   It was not I who sang
Beside the keys you touched so true
With note-bent eyes, as if with you
   It counted not whence sprang
      The voice that rang . . .
   Yet though my destiny
It was to miss your early sweet,
You still, when turned to you my feet,
   Had sweet enough to be
      A prize for me!

Literature Network » Thomas Hardy » Late Lyrics and Earlier » I Was Not He