We parted in silence

We parted in silence, we parted by night,

On the banks of that lonely river;

Where the fragrant limes their boughs unite,

We met - and we parted forever!

The night-bird sung, and the stars above

Told many a touching story,

Of friends long passed to the kingdom of love,

Where the soul wears its mantle of glory.

 

We parted in silence, - our cheeks were wet

With the tears that were past controlling;

We vowed we would never, no, never forget,

And those vows at the time were consoling;

But those lips that echoed the sounds of mine

Are as cold as that lonely river;

And that eye, that beautiful spirit’s shrine,

Has shrouded its fires forever.

 

And now on the midnight sky I look,

And my heart grows full of weeping;

Each star is to me a sealèd book,

Some tale of that loved one keeping.

We parted in silence, - we parted in tears,

On the banks of that lonely river:

But the odor and bloom of those bygone years

Shall hang o’er its waters forever.

 

(Louisa Macartney Crawford (1790–1858))