Edward Bulwer-Lytton

The Loyalty of Love

  I love thee, I love thee;
    In vain I endeavour
  To fly from thine image;
    It haunts me for ever.

  All things that rejoiced me
    Now weary and pall;
  I feel in thine absence
    Bereft of mine all.

  My heart is the dial;
    Thy looks are the sun;
  I count but the moments
    Thou shinest upon.

  Oh, royal, believe me,
    It is to control
  Two mighty dominions,
    The Heart and the Soul.

  To know that thy whisper
    Each pang can beguile;
  And feel that creation
    Is lit by thy smile.

  Yet every dominion
    Needs care to retain--
  Dost thou know when thou pain'st me
    Or smile at the pain?

  Alas! the heart-sickness,
    The doubt and the dread,
  When some word that we pine for
    Cold lips have not said!

  When no pulses respond to
    The feelings we prove;
  And we tremble to question
    "If _this_ can be love;"

  At moments comparing
    Thy heart with mine own,
  I mourn not my bondage,
    I sigh for thy throne.

  For if thou forsake me,
    Too well I divine
  That no love could defend thee
    From sorrow like mine.

  And this, O ungrateful,
    I most should deplore--
  That the heart thou hadst broken
    Could shield thee no more!