Lines: We Meet Not As We Parted

[Published by Dr. Garnett, "Relics of Shelley", 1862.]



1.
We meet not as we parted,
We feel more than all may see;
My bosom is heavy-hearted,
And thine full of doubt for me:--
One moment has bound the free.                                       _5
2.
That moment is gone for ever,
Like lightning that flashed and died--
Like a snowflake upon the river--
Like a sunbeam upon the tide,
Which the dark shadows hide.                                         _10
3.
That moment from time was singled
As the first of a life of pain;
The cup of its joy was mingled
--Delusion too sweet though vain!
Too sweet to be mine again.                                          _15
4.
Sweet lips, could my heart have hidden
That its life was crushed by you,
Ye would not have then forbidden
The death which a heart so true
Sought in your briny dew.                                            _20
5.
...
...
...
Methinks too little cost
For a moment so found, so lost!                                      _25