Poem by Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Love Will Wane

When your love begins to wane, 
Spare me from the cruel pain
Of all speech that tells me so -
Spare me words, for I shall know, 

By the half-averted eyes, 
By the breast that no more sighs
By the rapture I shall miss
From your strangely-altered kiss; 

By the arms that still enfold
But have lost their clinging hold, 
And, too willing, let me go, 
I shall know, love, I shall know.

Bitter will the knowledge be, 
Bitterer than death to me.
Yet, ’twill come to me some day, 
For it is sad world’s way.

Make no vows - vows cannot bind
Changing hearts of wayward mind.
Men grow weary of a bliss
Passionate and fond as this.

Love will wane. But I shall know, 
If you do not tell me so.
Know it, tho’ you smile and say, 
That you love me more each day.

Know it by the inner sight
That forever sees aright.
Words could not but increase my woe, 
And without them, I shall know.

1. The Birth of the Orchid
2. The Call (All wantonly in hours of joy)
3. Be Not Attached
4. Behold the Earth
5. The Black Charger

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