“BURN THIS LETTER AS SOON AS READ.”
I.
Burn this letter as soon as read. Consider all I say, unsaid. Think of me as a wilful boy Inebriate with a golden joy; Daring to tell thee all his heart; Trembling at his fool-hardy part Madly chasing a fierce desire Through earth and water, air and fire. Ready to tend thee day and night As his endless, sole delight:— Ready to throw his life away To add to thine a single day.
II.
Burn this letter as soon as read. Ne’er can its saying be unsaid. Hate me,—if thy heart is fierce; Mine with thine angry arrows pierce. Trample me beneath thy scorn: Wish that I had ne’er been born: Bid me with a frown, to die,— I will meet my destiny: Or, if in a softer mood, Banish me to solitude: Only let me hear thy voice, In my doom I will rejoice.
III.
Burn this letter as soon as read. Think of me as one who’s dead: Lying straight beneath the grass O’er which happy mortals pass: Nevermore to vex thy sight; Nevermore to dim thy light. When in Spring, with moonbeam flood, Primroses fill all the wood, (Then I met thee!)—think, when slow Sets the sun, and birds sing low, Of that eve my heart beguiled, When I whispered,—and you smiled.
IV.
Burn this letter. Thou art proud; High thy race above the crowd. Careless thou of others’ pain: They must love—and thou disdain. Thou canst light the lamp which none Quencheth but the churchyard stone. In thy hand is all my fate; Thou must yield me love or hate. All my fate is in thy hand:— But my words for ever stand. I love! Wouldst thou that love gainsay, Then thou must tear my life away!
H. M.