The Works of Lord Byron (ed. Coleridge, Prothero)/Poetry/Volume 3/On Parting

by George Gordon Byron

ON PARTING.

1.

The kiss, dear maid! thy lip has left
⁠Shall never part from mine,
Till happier hours restore the gift
⁠Untainted back to thine.

2.

Thy parting glance, which fondly beams,
⁠An equal love may see:^{[lower-roman 1]}
The tear that from thine eyelid streams
⁠Can weep no change in me.

3.

I ask no pledge to make me blest
⁠In gazing when alone;^{[lower-roman 2]}
Nor one memorial for a breast,
⁠Whose thoughts are all thine own.

4.

Nor need I write—to tell the tale
⁠My pen were doubly weak:
Oh! what can idle words avail,^{[lower-roman 3]}
⁠Unless the heart could speak?

5.

By day or night, in weal or woe,
⁠That heart, no longer free,
Must bear the love it cannot show,
⁠And silent ache for thee.

March, 1811.
[First published, Childe Harold, 1812 (4to).]

Variants

1. Has bound my soul to thee.—[MS. M.]
2. When wandering forth alone.—[MS. M.]

3. Oh! what can tongue or pen avail
   ⁠Unless my heart could speak.—[MS. M.]