Comfort in Absence

Oh, love, remember when between us lies 
The bitter, barren sea, the dreary land, 
How utterly alone I then shall stand. 
Lo! not with thine, but with my sadder eyes. 
Look thou upon the cold, unpitying skies; 
Or, when glad birds beneath thy window band, 
As when we, silent, sitting hand in hand, 
Watch'd the gray windless autumn morning rise, - 

Since I would have my soul still beat in thine, 
Be sad for me, and in thy spirit say, — 
"How dark for him, and desolate this day, 
From gray beginning unto gray decline."
So shall I gather strength to go my way, 
Feeling thy soul compassionating mine.