Ан, no! I cannot say "Farewell,"

"Twould pierce my bosom through; And to this heart 't were death's dread knell, To hear thee sigh "Adieu."

Though soul and body both must part,

Yet ne'er from thee I'll sever,

For more to me than soul thou art,

And oh! I'll quit thee never.

AH, NO! I CANNOT SAY "FAREWELL."

Whate'er through life may be thy fate,.

That fate with thee I'll share, If prosperous, be moderate,

If adverse, meekly bear;

This bosom shall thy pillow be,

In every change whatever,

And tear for tear I'll shed with thee,
But oh! forsake thee, never.

One home, one hearth, shall ours be still,
And one our daily fare;

One altar, too, where we may kneel,
And breathe our humble prayer;
And one our praise, that shall ascend
To one all-bounteous Giver;
And one our will, our aim, our end,
For oh! we'll sunder never.

And when that solemn hour shall come,
That sees thee breathe thy last,
That hour shall also fix my doom,
And seal my eyelids fast.

One grave shall hold us side by side,

One shroud our clay shall cover;

And one then may we mount and glide,

Through realms of love, for ever.

Alexander Rodger.

FAREWELL.

FAREWELL! if ever fondest prayer
For other's weal availed on high,
Mine will not all be lost in air,

But waft thy name beyond the sky.
"Twere vain to speak-to weep-to sigh-
Oh! more than tears of blood can tell,
When wrung from guilt's expiring eye,
Are in that word, Farewell! Farewell!

These lips are mute, these eyes are dry,
But in my breast, and in my brain,
Awake the pangs that pass not by,

The thought that ne'er shall sleep again;
My soul nor deigns nor dares complain;
Though grief and passion there rebel,

I only know we loved in vain,

I only feel Farewell! Farewell!

LOVED ONCE.

Byron.

I CLASS'D, appraising once,

Earth's lamentable sounds; the "well-a-day,"

The jarring "yea" and "nay,"

The fall of kisses on unanswering clay,

The sobb'd "farewell," the "welcome" mournfuller;

But all did leaven the air

With a less bitter leaven of sure despair,

Than these words-"I loved ONCE."

LOVED ONCE.

And who saith, "I loved once?"

Not angels, whose clear eyes love, love foresee,

Love through eternity!

Who, by To Love, do apprehend To Be.

Not God, called Love, his noble crown-name,―casting

A light too broad for blasting!

The Great God, changing not from everlasting,

Saith never, "I loved ONCE."

Oh, ever is "Loved once"

Thy word, thou Victim-Christ, misprized friend?

Thy cross and curse may rend;

But, having loved, Thou lovest to the end!

It is man's saying-man's! Too weak to move
One sphered star above,

Man desecrates the eternal God-word, Love,

With his No More, and ONCE.

Blasphemers? Is your earth not cold enow,

Mourners, without that snow?

Ah, friends! and would ye wrong each other so?

And could ye say of some, whose love is known,

Whose prayers have met your own,

Whose tears have fallen for you, whose smiles have shone,

Such words, "We loved them ONCE?"

Could ye "We loved her once "

Say calm of me, sweet friends, when out of sight?

When hearts of better right

Stand in between me and your happy light?

And when, as flowers kept too long in the shade,

Ye find my colours fade,

And all that is not love in me, decay'd?

Such words, "Ye loved me ONCE!"

LOVED ONCE.

Could ye

"We loved her once

Say cold of me, when further put away

In earth's sepulchral clay?

When mute the lips which deprecate to-day?—

Not so not then-least then! When life is shriven,
And Death's full joy is given ;

Of those who sit and love you up in heaven

Say not, "We loved them ONCE."

Say never, ye loved ONCE!

God is too near above, the grave beneath,
And all our moments breathe

Too quick in mysteries of Life and Death
For such a word. The eternities avenge
Affections light of range-

There comes no change to justify that change,
Whatever comes-Loved ONCE!

And yet that same word "ONCE"

Is humanly acceptive! Kings have said,

Shaking a discrown'd head,

"We ruled once ;"-dotards, "We once taught and led;"Cripples once danced i' the vines; and bards approved

Were once by scornings, moved;

But Love strikes one hour-Love. Those never loved

Who dream that they loved ONCE.

Elizabeth Barrett Browning.