Do not forget me! when the day is ending,
And dark'ning shadows gather o'er the sea;
Sometimes alone, and near this casement bending,
Pause in the twilight and remember me!

Think on the brightness of the summer weather,
Years, years ago, one well-remember'd day,
When to the woods we wander'd forth together,
Amongst the primroses and blue bells gay.

Time changes all! those blossoms now are faded,
Or, if they bloom, they do not seem as fair
As once before, when, by the beech-trees shaded,
You twined them tenderly amongst my hair.

I dash away the tear, that all unbidden
Arises, when I think that this is past,
And muse on all my anxious heart has hidden
Since the sad ev'ning when I saw you last!

Earth has enough of heav'n to gild its sorrow
And turn the current of its griefs away,
Could we but learn to dread no dark To-morrow,
And live for ever in one glad To-day!

Whilst I have mused in solitude and sadness
On all the changes fleeting time can bring,
Others have hallow'd to you, with their gladness,
The happy hours of many another Spring.

All this I know, yet when the shadows darken,
And when none other better loved is by
To mark your silent mood, perchance, or hearken
To the soft echo of a half-heaved sigh;

Then lend to me that hour of soft emotion,
And link'd in spirit let us leave the shore,
And floating o'er the dark mysterious ocean,
Be unto one another as before!

Do not forget me! when the day is ending,
And dark'ning shadows linger o'er the sea,
Sometimes alone, and near this casement bending,
Pause in the twilight and remember me!

Regard the capture here, O Janus-faced,
As double as the hands that twist this glass.
Such eyes at search or rest you cannot see;
Reciting pain or glee, how can you bear!

Twin shadowed halves: the breaking second holds
In each the skin alone, and so it is
I crust a plate of vibrant mercury
Borne cleft to you, and brother in the half.

Inquire this much—exacting fragment smile,
Its drums and darkest blowing leaves ignore,—
Defer though, revocation of the tears
That yield attendance to one crucial sign.

Look steadily—how the wind feasts and spins
The brain's disk shivered against lust. Then watch
While darkness, like an ape's face, falls away,
And gradually white buildings answer day.

Let the same nameless gulf beleaguer us—
Alike suspend us from atrocious sums
Built floor by floor on shafts of steel that grant
The plummet heart, like Absalom, no stream.

The highest tower,—let her ribs palisade
Wrenched gold of Nineveh;— yet leave the tower.
The bridge swings over salvage, beyond wharves;
A wind abides the ensign of your will ...

In alternating bells have you not heard
All hours clapped dense into a single stride?
Forgive me for an echo of these things,
And let us walk through time with equal pride.