Here are my favorite poems about ex boyfriends categorized:
- Short poems about ex boyfriends
- Romantic poems about ex boyfriends
- Poems about ex boyfriends that make you cry
So if you want the best poems about ex boyfriends, then you’re in the right place.
Let’s get into it!
- 35 Unforgettable Poems About Ex Lovers for Him
- 35 Healing Poems About Letting Someone Go For Him
- 81 Daring Poems About Getting Over a Breakup for Him
- 93 Unwavering Love Poems For Boyfriends
- 125 Striking Love Poems For Him
Liberating Poems About Ex Boyfriends
Poetry has always been a powerful medium to express emotions and experiences that resonate deeply within us.
In this collection, we delve into the world of ex-boyfriends and past relationships through the lens of poetry.
Each poem captures a unique perspective, from heartbreak and longing to empowerment and self-discovery.
Whether you’ve experienced a breakup yourself or simply appreciate the art of storytelling, these poems offer a glimpse into the complexities of love and its aftermath.
So sit back, grab a cup of coffee, and immerse yourself in this heartfelt journey of emotions and reflections.
Let’s get to it!
My #1 Favorite Poem About Ex Boyfriends
“He And She” by Christina Georgina Rossetti
“Should one of us remember,
And one of us forget,
I wish I knew what each will do –
But who can tell as yet?”
“Should one of us remember,
And one of us forget,
I promise you what I will do –
And I’m content to wait for you,
And not be sure as yet.”
Why Is “He And She” My Favorite Poem About Ex Boyfriends
The language used in Christina Rossetti’s “He And She” appears to be very simple, yet it depicts the rawness of the thoughts and feelings of someone who has just broken up with their lover.
Whether we admit it or not, moving on from a breakup, especially if the love still lingers, is not an easy thing to do.
We often cling to the memories shared with our former partner and so it requires courage, strength, and willpower to navigate the whirlwind of emotions that accompany the process of moving on.
I love how Rossetti shows both vulnerability and strength in the second stanza.
She candidly admits still waiting for and hoping to be with her former lover, while also demonstrating a willingness to eventually let go.
Short Poems About Ex Boyfriends
Let’s dive into this beautiful collection of short poems about ex boyfriends, where emotions dance with words to create a captivating journey through heartbreak and healing.
Each poem captures the essence of past relationships, providing a cathartic escape as you explore the highs and lows of love’s aftermath.
Keep reading!
“Did You Never Know” by Sara Teasdale
Did you never know, long ago, how much you loved me,
That your love would never lessen and never go?
You were young then, proud and fresh-hearted,
You were too young to know.
Fate is a wind, and red leaves fly before it
Far apart, far away in the gusty time of year,
Seldom we meet now, but when I hear you speaking,
I know your secret, my dear, my dear.
“Can I Forget?” by Madison Julius Cawein
Can I forget how Love once led the ways
Of our two lives together, joining them;
How every hour was his anadem,
And every day a tablet in his praise!
Can I forget how, in his garden’s place,
Among the purple roses, stem to stem,
We heard the rumor of his robe’s bright hem,
And saw the aureate radiance of his face!—
Though I beheld my soul’s high dreams down-hurled,
And Falsehood sit where Truth once towered white,
And in Love’s place usurping Lust and Shame,
Though flowers be dead within the winter world,
Are flowers not there? and starless though the night,
Are stars not there, eternal and the same?
“Friendship After Love” by Ella Wheeler Wilcox
After the fierce midsummer all ablaze
Has burned itself to ashes, and expires
In the intensity of its own fires,
There come the mellow, mild, St. Martin days,
Crowned with the calm of peace, but sad with haze.
So after Love has led us, till he tires
Of his own throes and torments and desires,
Comes large-eyed friendship: with a restful gaze
He beckons us to follow, and across
Cool, verdant vales we wander free from care.
Is it a touch of frost lies in the air?
Why are we haunted with a sense of loss?
We do not wish the pain back, or the heat;
And yet, and yet, these days are incomplete.
“Remember” by Christina Georgina Rossetti
Remember me when I am gone away,
Gone far away into the silent land;
When you can no more hold me by the hand,
Nor I half turn to go yet turning stay.
Remember me when no more day by day
You tell me of our future that you planned:
Only remember me; you understand
It will be late to counsel then or pray.
Yet if you should forget me for a while
And afterwards remember, do not grieve:
For if the darkness and corruption leave
A vestige of the thoughts that once I had,
Better by far you should forget and smile
Than that you should remember and be sad.
“When Love is Over – Song of Khan Zada” by Laurence Hope (Adela Florence Cory Nicolson)
Only in August my heart was aflame,
Catching the scent of your Wind-stirred hair,
Now, though you spread it to soften my sleep
Through the night, I should hardly care.
Only last August I drank that water
Because it had chanced to cool your hands;
When love is over, how little of love
Even the lover understands!
“An Awakening” by Anne Reeve Aldrich
Love had forgotten and gone to sleep;
Love had forgotten the present and past.
I was so glad when he ceased to weep;
“Now he is quiet,” I whispered, “at last.”
What sent you here on that night of all nights,
Breaking his slumber, dreamless and deep,
Just as I whispered below my breath,
“Love has forgotten and gone to sleep”?
“Song” by Sir Edwin Arnold
Nay! if thou must depart, thou shalt depart;
But why so soon, oh, heart-blood of my heart!
Go then! Yet, going, turn and stay thy feet,
That I may once more see that face so sweet.
Once more—if never more; for swift days go
As hastening waters from their fountains flow;
And whether yet again shall meeting be
Who knows? Who knows? Ah! turn once more to me!
“Separation” by Walter Savage Landor
There is a mountain and a wood between us,
Where the lone shepherd and late bird have seen us
Morning and noon and eventide repass.
Between us now the mountain and the wood
Seem standing darker than last year they stood,
And say we must not cross, alas! alas!
“Finis” by Waring Cuney
Now that our love has drifted
To a quiet close,
Leaving the empty ache
That always follows when beauty goes;
Now that you and I,
Who stood tip-toe on earth
To touch our fingers to the sky,
Have turned away
To allow our little love to die—
Go, dear, seek again the magic touch.
But if you are wise,
As I shall be wise,
You will not again
Love over much.
“Why I No Longer Love Thee?” by Sadakichi Hartmann
Why I no longer love thee?
Ask why summer has fled,
Thy autumn is dead with its garnet glow,
Why the sea is gray, and the sky is gray;
Why bitter gales o’er the salt flats blow,
Where the sea-fowl sport in ghoulish play
And the pods of the beach-pea stand withered
On the long-curved rifts of dream-torn sand;
Why the shore is scarred by time’s rough hand,
And ships that heel on wintry seas
Are wrecked on the ashen strand!
“The flowers and my love” by Ono no Komachi (Yone Noguchi, Translator)
The flowers and my love,
Passed away under the rain,
While I idly looked upon them:
Where is my yester-love?
“The Want of You” by Angelina Weld Grimké
A hint of gold where the moon will be;
Through the flocking clouds just a star or two;
Leaf sounds, soft and wet and hushed,
And oh! the crying want of you.
“Old Wine” by Margaret Widdemer
If I could lift
My heart but high enough
My heart could fill with love:
But ah, my heart
Too still and heavy stays
Too brimming with old days.
“Renouncement” by Alice Meynell
I must not think of thee; and, tired yet strong,
I shun the thought that lurks in all delight—
The thought of thee—and in the blue heaven’s height,
And in the sweetest passage of a song.
Oh, just beyond the fairest thoughts that throng
This breast, the thought of thee waits hidden yet bright;
But it must never, never come in sight;
I must stop short of thee the whole day long.
But when sleep comes to close each difficult day,
When night gives pause to the long watch I keep,
And all my bonds I needs must loose apart,
Must doff my will as raiment laid away,—
With the first dream that comes with the first sleep
I run, I run, I am gathered to thy heart.
“Other Lips Than Yours” by D. F. Bloomfield
Other lips than yours entreat
Those I vowed, in vanished hours,
Never Fate should force to greet
Other lips than yours.
Memory dulls, perchance, or sours
What was once so keenly sweet,
Being ours and only ours.
All the life and heart and heat,
All the soul that Love outpours,
Dies upon the lips that meet
Other lips than yours.
“The Lady’s Sonnet. Twilight” by Christopher Pearse Cranch
I know not why I chose to seem so cold
At parting from you, for since you are gone
I see you still; I hear each word, each tone,
And what I hid from you I wish were told.
I, who was proud and shy, seem now too bold
To write these lines, and yet must write to own
I would unsay my words now I’m alone.
From my dark window out upon the wold
I look. “T was through yon pathway to the West
I watched you going, while the sunset light
Went with you, and a shadow seemed to fall
Upon my heart. And now I cannot rest
Till I have written; for I said, “To-night
I’ll send your answer.” Now I’ve told you all.
Romantic Poems About Ex Boyfriends
Love has a mysterious way of weaving itself into the fabric of our lives, leaving behind delicate remnants even when relationships come to an end.
In this collection of romantic poems about ex boyfriends, we embark on a journey of bittersweet nostalgia, exploring the emotions that linger long after the flames of love have waned.
Let’s get to it!
“Changed Love” by Philip Bourke Marston
When did the change come, dearest Heart of mine,
Whom Love loves so?
When did Love’s moon less brightly seem to shine,
While to and fro,
And soft and slow,
Chill winds began to move in its decline?
When did the change come, thou who wast mine own?
When heard the rose
First far-off winds begin to moan,
At sunset’s close,
When sad Love goes
About the autumn woods to brood alone?
When did the change come in thy heart, sweetheart,—
Thy heart so dear to me?
In what thing did I fail to bear my part,—
My part to thee,
Whose deity
My soul confesses, and how fair thou art?
Alas for poor changed Love! We cannot say
What changes Love.
My love would not suffice to make your day
Now gladly move,
Though kisses strove
With answering kisses, in Love’s sweetest way.
But though I know you changed, right well I know
That should we meet,
Deep in your heart some love for me would glow;
Though not that heat
Which made it beat
So fast with joy two years—one year ago.
“What Shall We Do?” by Ella Wheeler Wilcox
Here now forevermore our lives must part.
My path leads there, and yours another way.
What shall we do with this fond love, dear heart?
It grows a heavier burden day by day.
Hide it? In all earth’s caverns, void and vast,
There is not room enough to hide it, dear;
Not even the mighty storehouse of the past
Could cover it from our own eyes, I fear.
Drown it? Why, were the contents of each ocean
Merged into one great sea, too shallow then
Would be its waters to sink this emotion
So deep it could not rise to life again.
Burn it? In all the furnace flames below,
It would not in a thousand years expire.
Nay! it would thrive, exult, expand, and grow,
For from its very birth it fed on fire.
Starve it? Yes, yes, that is the only way.
Give it no food, of glance, or word, or sigh;
No memories, even, of any bygone day;
No crumbs of vain regrets – so let it die.
“A Farewell” by Susan Coolidge (Sarah Chauncey Woolsey)
Go, sun, since go you must,
The dusky evening lowers above our sky,
Our sky which was so blue and sweetly fair;
Night is not terrible that we should sigh.
A little darkness we can surely bear;
Will there not be more sunshine–by and by?
Go, rose, since go you must,
Flowerless and chill the winter draweth nigh;
Closed are the blithe and fragrant lips which made
All summer long perpetual melody.
Cheerless we take our way, but not afraid:
Will there not be more roses–by and by?
Go, love, since go you must,
Out of our pain we bless you as you fly;
The momentary heaven the rainbow lit
Was worth whole days of black and stormy sky;
Shall we not see, as by the waves we sit,
Your bright sail winging shoreward–by and by?
Go, life, since go you must,
Uncertain guest and whimsical ally!
All questionless you came, unquestioned go;
What does it mean to live, or what to die?
Smiling we watch you vanish, for we know
Somewhere is nobler living–by and by.
“Song” by Charles Dickens
Love is not a feeling to pass away,
Like the balmy breath of a summer day;
It is not — it cannot be — laid aside;
It is not a thing to forget or hide.
It clings to the heart — ah, woe is me! —
As the ivy clings to the old oak- tree.
Love is not a passion of earthly mould,
As a thirst for honor or fame or gold;
For when all these wishes have died away,
The deep strong love of a brighter day,
Though nourished in secret, consumes the more,
As the slow rust eats to the iron’s core.
“Remembrance” by Fannie Isabelle Sherrick
Why should we dream of days gone by?
Why should we wait and wonder?
Sweet summer days have come and gone,
The leaves are falling yonder.
The wee sweet flowers we loved the best,
The king of frost has chosen;
And now the sun looks sadly down
Upon his darlings frozen.
Ah! summer sun and autumn frost,
You are at war forever;
For all the ties that one would make
The other fain would sever.
With autumn days remembrance comes
Of golden glories fleeting;
Of pleasures gone and sorrows come–
Of parting and of meeting.
Oh! summer days, why haunt us still?
Remembrance is a sorrow;
And all the dreams we dream to-day
Will fade upon the morrow.
Each life has some sweet summer-time,
Some perfect day of beauty;
When flowers of love and leaves of hope
Are twined around each duty.
But oh! the autumn-time will come,
Which fades each golden glory;
And life, when we are old and gray,
Seems but a sad, old story.
“The Trio” by Ella Wheeler Wilcox
We love but once. The great gold orb of light
From dawn to even-tide doth cast his ray;
But the full splendor of his perfect might
Is reached but once throughout the livelong day.
We love but once. The waves, with ceaseless motion,
Do day and night plash on the pebbled shore;
But the strong tide of the resistless ocean
Sweeps in but one hour of the twenty-four.
We love but once. A score of times, perchance,
We may be moved in fancy’s fleeting fashion—
May treasure up a word, a tone, a glance;
But only once we feel the soul’s great passion.
We love but once. Love walks with death and birth
(The saddest, the unkindest of the three);
And only once while we sojourn on earth
Can that strange trio come to you or me.
“Rondeau Redoublé” by Dorothy Parker
(AND SCARCELY WORTH THE TROUBLE, AT THAT)
The same to me are sombre days and gay.
Though joyous dawns the rosy morn, and bright,
Because my dearest love is gone away
Within my heart is melancholy night.
My heart beats low in loneliness, despite
That riotous Summer holds the earth in sway.
In cerements my spirit is bedight;
The same to me are sombre days and gay.
Though breezes in the rippling grasses play,
And waves dash high and far in glorious might,
I thrill no longer to the sparkling day,
Though joyous dawns the rosy morn, and bright.
Ungraceful seems to me the swallow’s flight;
As well might Heaven’s blue be sullen gray;
My soul discerns no beauty in their sight
Because my dearest love is gone away.
Let roses fling afar their crimson spray,
And virgin daisies splash the fields with white,
Let bloom the poppy hotly as it may,
Within my heart is melancholy night.
And this, oh love, my pitiable plight
Whenever from my circling arms you stray;
This little world of mine has lost its light. . . .
I hope to God, my dear, that you can say
The same to me.
“Two Ways To Love” by Susan Coolidge
He says he loves me well, and I
Believe it; in my hands, to make
Or mar, his life lies utterly,
Nor can I the strong plea deny
Which claims my love for his love’s sake.
He says there is no face so fair
As mine; when I draw near, his eyes
Light up; each ripple of my hair
He loves; the very cloak I wear
He touches fondly where it lies.
And roses, roses all the way,
Upon my path fall, strewed by him;
His tenderness by night, by day,
Keeps faithful watch to heap alway
My cup of pleasure to the brim.
The other women, full of spite,
Count me the happiest woman born
To be worshipped; I delight
To flaunt his homage in their sight,
For me the rose, for them its thorn.
I love him — or I think I do;
Sure one must love what is so sweet.
He is all tender and all true,
All eloquent to plead and sue,—
All strength though kneeling at my feet.—
Yet I had visions once of yore,
Girlish imaginings of a zest,
A possible thrill, but why run o’er
These fancies? Idle dreams, no more;
I will forget them, — this is best.
So let him take; the past is past;
The future, with its golden key,
Into his outstretched hands I cast.
I shall love him — perhaps at last,
As now I love his love for me.
“You Will Forget Me” by Ella Wheeler Wilcox
You will forget me. The years are so tender,
They bind up the wounds which we think are so deep;
This dream of our youth will fade out as the splendor
Fades from the skies when the sun sinks to sleep;
The cloud of forgetfulness, over and over
Will banish the last rosy colors away,
And the fingers of time will weave garlands to cover
The scar which you think is a life-mark to-day.
You will forget me. The one boon you covet
Now above all things will soon seem no prize;
And the heart, which you hold not in keeping to prove it
True or untrue, will lose worth in your eyes.
The one drop to-day, that you deem only wanting
To fill your life-cup to the brim, soon will seem
But a valueless mite; and the ghost that is haunting
The aisles of your heart will pass out with the dream.
You will forget me; will thank me for saying
The words which you think are so pointed with pain.
Time loves a new lay; and the dirge he is playing
Will change for you soon to a livelier strain.
I shall pass from your life—I shall pass out forever,
And these hours we have spent will be sunk in the past.
Youth buries its dead; grief kills seldom or never,
And forgetfulness covers all sorrows at last.
“Yesterday and To-morrow” by Paul Laurence Dunbar
Yesterday I held your hand,
Reverently I pressed it,
And its gentle yieldingness
From my soul I blessed it.
But to-day I sit alone,
Sad and sore repining;
Must our gold forever know
Flames for the refining?
Yesterday I walked with you,
Could a day be sweeter?
Life was all a lyric song
Set to tricksy meter.
Ah, to-day is like a dirge,—
Place my arms around you,
Let me feel the same dear joy
As when first I found you.
Let me once retrace my steps,
From these roads unpleasant,
Let my heart and mind and soul
All ignore the present.
Yesterday the iron seared
And to-day means sorrow.
Pause, my soul, arise, arise,
Look where gleams the morrow.
“Questions” by William Winter
Because Love’s sigh is just a sigh,
Doth it the less Love’s heart disclose?
Because the rose must fade and die,
Is it the less the lovely rose?
Because black night must shroud the day,
Shall the brave sun no more be gay?
Because chill Autumn frights the birds,
Shall we distrust that Spring will come?
Because sweet words are only words,
Shall Love forevermore be dumb?
Because our bliss is fleeting bliss,
Shall we who love forbear to kiss?
Because those eyes of gentle mirth
Must sometimes cease my heart to thrill,
Because the sweetest voice on earth
Sooner or later must be still,
Because its idol is unsure,
Shall my strong love the less endure?
Ah, no! let lovers breathe their sighs,
And roses bloom, and music sound,
And passion burn on lips and eyes,
And pleasure’s merry world go round;
Let golden sunshine flood the sky,
And let me love, or let me die!
“The Wish” by Anne Reeves Aldrich
Come let us spend an idle hour in wishing,
Like happy children on a summer’s day,
Feigning we never spent a past together,
Nor know what farewells we shall have to say.
And I will wish this silver tide of moonlight,
That shows your tender face, and upturned eyes,
Its weary lips, half- parted in their languor,
Too tired with kissing me to speak replies,
I wish this silver tide of summer moonlight
Were that strange flood, of ancient fairy lore,
Wherein the hapless mortal rashly plunging
Was changed from flesh to stone forevermore.
Through the long centuries we should still be sleeping;
And time would never touch your luring charms;
And I, past any chance of changing fortune,
Should hold you through the ages in my arms.
Ah, Sweet, the days are past of elfin magic;
And you must fade like any other flower,
And at the longest I can only linger
To keep you in my arms one fleeting hour.
Ah, Sweet, forgive the reverie’s bitter ending;
What! Has my foolish fancy made you weep?
Nay, close instead those white and weary eyelids,
And dream we love forever, in your sleep.
“One September” by Jane-Goodwin Austin
I remember
One September
When the purple plum-tree bore,
And the pears hung mellow,
And we heaped such ample store
Of pippins red and yellow.
Do you remember
That September?
When the aftermath was mown,
We tossed the fragrant hay, –
Hay with withered daisies strewn,
Sweet as freshest flowers of May.
Dear, do you remember
That September?
And you couched upon the hay,
While I sat quiet at your head;
Little found we then to say,
Unless to praise the lovely day,
Or some book that we had read,
But do not you remember
The joy of that September?
Many a day has passed since then,
Many a sunny day and bright,
Rare and precious moments, when
Earth has glowed with Eden’s light,
And we talk when we ‘ re together
Of other things than books or weather;
But, Love, do you remember
The joy of that September?
“The Wild Swans” by Li Qingzhao
Before daybreak the breezes whisper
through the trellis at my window;
they interrupt and carry off my dream,
and he of whom I dreamed
vanishes from me.
I climb upstairs
to look from the topmost window,
but with whom? . . .
I remember how I used to stir the fire
with my hairpin of jade
as I am doing now . . .
but the brasier holds nothing but ashes.
I turn to look at the mountain;
there is a thick mist,
a dismal rain,
and I gaze down at the wind-dappled river,
the river that flows past me forever
without bearing away my sorrow.
I have kept the rain of my tears
on the crape of my tunic;
with a gesture I fling these bitter drops
to the wild swans on the river,
that they may be my messengers.
Poems About Ex Boyfriends That Make You Cry
Let’s explore a collection of heartfelt poems that delve into the bittersweet realm of ex-boyfriends.
Join us on a poetic journey where emotions intertwine, tears are shed, and healing begins, as these verses beautifully capture the essence of love lost and the resilience of the human spirit.
Let’s go!
“An End” by Christina Georgina Rossetti
Love, strong as Death, is dead.
Come, let us make his bed
Among the dying flowers:
A green turf at his head;
And a stone at his feet,
Whereon we may sit
In the quiet evening hours.
He was born in the Spring,
And died before the harvesting:
On the last warm summer day
He left us; he would not stay
For Autumn twilight cold and grey.
Sit we by his grave, and sing
He is gone away.
To few chords and sad and low
Sing we so:
Be our eyes fixed on the grass
Shadow-veiled as the years pass
While we think of all that was
In the long ago.
“Farewell” by Laurence Hope (Adela Florence Nicolson)
Farewell, Aziz, it was not mine to fold you
Against my heart for any length of days.
I had no loveliness, alas, to hold you,
No siren voice, no charm that lovers praise.
Yet, in the midst of grief and desolation,
Solace I my despairing soul with this:
Once, for my life’s eternal consolation,
You lent my lips your loveliness to kiss.
Ah, that one night! I think Love’s very essence
Distilled itself from out my joy and pain,
Like tropical trees, whose fervid inflorescence
Glows, gleams, and dies, never to bloom again.
Often I marvel how I met the morning
With living eyes after that night with you,
Ah, how I cursed the wan, white light for dawning,
And mourned the paling stars, as each withdrew!
Yet I, even I, who am less than dust before you,
Less than the lowest lintel of your door,
Was given one breathless midnight, to adore you.
Fate, having granted this, can give no more!
“We Part For Ever” by George Pope Morris
Fare thee well–we part for ever!
All regrets are now in vain!
Fate decrees that we must sever,
Ne’er to meet on earth again.
Other skies may bend above thee,
Other hearts may seek thy shrine,
But no other e’er will love thee
With the constancy of mine.
Yet farewell–we part for ever!
All regrets are now in vain!
Fate decrees that we must sever,
Ne’er to meet on earth again.
Fare thee well!
Like the shadow on the dial
Lingers still our parting kiss!
Life has no severer trial,
Death no pang to equal this.
All the world is now before thee,
Every clime to roam at will,
But within the land that bore thee,
One fond heart will love thee still.
Yet farewell–we part for ever!
All regrets are now in vain!
Fate decrees that we must sever,
Ne’er to meet on earth again.
Fare thee well!
“When Love Went” by Susan Coolidge (Sarah Chauncey Woolsey)
What whispered Love the day he fled?
Ah! this was what Love whispered;
“You sought to hold me with a chain;
I fly to prove such holding vain.
“You bound me burdens, and I bore
The burdens hard, the burdens sore;
I bore them all unmurmuring,
For Love can bear a harder thing.
“You taxed me often, teased me, wept;
I only smiled, and still I kept
Through storm and sun and night and day,
My joyous, viewless, faithful way.
“But, dear, once dearest, you and I
This day have parted company.
Love must be free to give, defer,
Himself alone his almoner.
“As free I freely poured my all,
Enslaved I spurn, renounce my thrall,
Its wages and its bitter bread.”
Thus whispered Love the day he fled!
“A Reminiscence” by Anne Brontë
Yes, thou art gone! and never more
Thy sunny smile shall gladden me;
But I may pass the old church door,
And pace the floor that covers thee.
May stand upon the cold, damp stone,
And think that, frozen, lies below
The lightest heart that I have known,
The kindest I shall ever know.
Yet, though I cannot see thee more,
‘Tis still a comfort to have seen;
And though thy transient life is o’er,
‘Tis sweet to think that thou hast been;
To think a soul so near divine,
Within a form so angel fair,
United to a heart like thine,
Has gladdened once our humble sphere.
“Souvenir” by Edna St. Vincent Millay
Just a rainy day or two
In a windy tower,
That was all I had of you–
Saving half an hour.
Marred by greeting passing groups
In a cinder walk,
Near some naked blackberry hoops
Dim with purple chalk.
I remember three or four
Things you said in spite,
And an ugly coat you wore,
Plaided black and white.
Just a rainy day or two
And a bitter word.
Why do I remember you
As a singing bird?
“The Call of the Wild” by Alexander Posey
I’m tired of the gloom
In a four-walled room;
Heart-weary, I sigh
For the open sky,
And the solitude
Of the greening wood;
Where the bluebirds call,
And the sunbeams fall,
And the daisies lure
The soul to be pure.
I’m tired of the life
In the ways of strife;
Heart-weary, I long
For the river’s song,
And the murmur of rills
In the breezy hills;
Where the pipe of Pan—
The hairy half-man—
The bright silence breaks
By the sleeping lakes.
“Sunshine After Cloud” by Josephine D. Heard
Come, “Will,” let’s be good friends again,
Our wrongs let’s be forgetting,
For words bring only useless pain,
So wherefore then be fretting.
Let’s lay aside imagined wrongs,
And ne’er give way to grieving,
Life should be filled with joyous songs,
No time left for deceiving.
I’ll try and not give way to wrath,
Nor be so often crying;
There must some thorns be in our path,
Let’s move them now by trying.
How, like a foolish pair were we,
To fume about a letter;
Time is so precious, you and me;
Must spend ours doing better.
“Doubt and Love” by Libbie C. Baer
“Love lives by faith,” my lover to me said
In earnest tones which loving thought imbue
With grace divine; such sense of honor, few
On earth attain; and by his fervor led,
My hopes to heaven on airy wings had sped;
When I for answer must—as woman e’er do
Needs question love, and say: “can man be true?”
(O, cruel words, had they but been unsaid;)
A changed voice gave to me this cold reply:
With hollow laugh bereft of all delight.
“To question love doth but a doubt imply;
And doubt kills love.” And lo! before my sight
Love died, and hurled from out an angry sky,
Hope bleeding fell upon the pall of night.
“Too Late” by Nora Perry
What silences we keep year after year,
With those who are most near to us and dear!
Welive beside each other day by day,
And speak of myriad things, but seldom say
The full, sweet word that lies just in our reach,
Beneath the commonplace of common speech.
Then out of sight and out of reach they go,—
These close, familiar friends, who loved us so;
And sitting in the shadow they have left,
Alone with loneliness, and sore bereft,
We think with vain regret of some fond word
That once we might have said and they have heard.
For weak and poor the love that we expressed
Now seems beside the vast, sweet, unexpressed;
And slight the deeds we did, to those undone;
And small the service spent, to treasure won;
And undeserved the praise for word and deed
That should have overflowed the simple need.
This is the cruel cross of life, — to be
Full visioned only when the ministry
Of death has been fulfilled, and in the place
Of some dear presence is but empty space.
What recollected services can then
Give consolation for the “might have been”?
“Good-By” by George John Whyte Melville
Falling leaf and fading tree,
Lines of white in a sullen sea,
Shadows rising on you and me!
The swallows are making them ready to fly,
And storms are brooding up in the sky;
Good-by, Summer! good-by, good-by!
Hark! a voice from the far-away;
“Listen and learn,” it seems to say;
“All the to-morrows shall be as to- day.”
The cord is frayed and the curse is dry,
The link must break and the lamp must die;
Good-by, sweet hope! good-by, good-by!
What are we waiting for, O My Heart?
Kiss me straight on the brow, and part!
What are we waiting for, you and I?
A pleading look, a stifled cry —
Good-by, forever ! good- by, good-by!
“After Love” by Sara Teasdale
There is no magic any more,
We meet as other people do,
You work no miracle for me
Nor I for you.
You were the wind and I the sea,
There is no splendor any more,
I have grown listless as the pool
Beside the shore.
But though the pool is safe from storm
And from the tide has found surcease,
It grows more bitter than the sea,
For all its peace.
“Thou And I” by Julia Caroline Ripley-Dorr
April days are over!
O my gay young lover,
Forth we fare together
In the soft May weather;
Forth we wander, hand in hand,
Seeking an enchanted land
Underneath a smiling sky,
So blithely,— Thou and I!
Soft spring days are over!
O my ardent lover,
Many a hill together,
In the July weather,
Climb we when the days are long
And the summer heats are strong,
And the harvest wains go by,
So bravely, — Thou and I!
July days are over!
O my faithful lover,
Side by side together
In the August weather,
When the swift, wild storms befall us,
And the fiery darts appall us,
Wait we till the clouds sweep by,
And stars shine, —Thou and I!
Summer days are over!
O my one true lover,
Sit we now alone together
In the early autumn weather;
From our nest the birds have flown
To fair dreamlands of their own;
And we see the days go by,
In silence, —Thou and I.
Storm and stress are over!
O my friend and lover,
Closer now we lean together
In the Indian- summer weather;
See the bright leaves falling, falling,
Hear the low winds calling, calling,
Glad to let the world go by
Unheeding, — Thou and I!
Winter days are over !
O my life-long lover,
Rest we now in peace together
Out of reach of changeful weather ;
Not a sound can mar our sleeping,
Breath of laughter or of weeping
May not reach us where we lie
Uncaring, — Thou and I!
“Renunciation” by Arthur Symonds
Dearest, I loose the bonds you would not break;
I cannot have you suffer for my sake.
I know that you have tried to love me; so
I give you, for your pity, leave to go.
Go, and be happy·— not with me. I say
The words I had not thought until to- day
My lips could come to utter. I have tried
Day after day, when I was by your side,
But always all in vain, to tell you this.
I could not, Dear, I could not. Now it is
My letter that shall tell you. You will write,
Perhaps, a word — I spare myself the sight;
Indeed I could not see you, lost and dear.
Write, if you will , the words I may not hear,
And say — not much, perhaps” I thank my friend,
My friend I could not love;” and if you send
This once — ‘t is but a form of words — your ” love, “
The friend will prize your letter far above
Rubies. But write, I beg you write the line .
I wonder if you think you gave no sign,
Nothing to show you do not love me now.
Oh, you will think so; you will marvel how
I stole your secret from you. Secret ? Nay,
Love has the key of secrets. Day by day
I watched your passion’s slow decline, the beat
Feebler and feebler of its pulse’s heat.
I saw, but I was silent, having hope.
Is love not strong as death ? Shall love not cope,
My Love, I said, with love that dies in her?
Your love was ready for the sepulchre,
And death was more than love.
Now all is o’er.
I give you back your word, your vows ; nay, more,
I set a chain upon the gate that keeps
My way of memories, where the past that sleeps
Shall, if it waken, beat that gate in vain.
Dear, I renounce you wholly. I retain
No hope, nor scarce remembrance, save how sweet
The days were when I worshipped at your feet .
You have been always good to me ; and I ,
Because my whole poor life until I die
Shall be the nobler, having known you, — yes,
Now that I say this last farewell, I bless ,
I thank you, — from my heart I thank you, Dear.
“Good-By” by Unknown
Good-by, good-by! It is the sweetest blessing
That falls from mortal lips on mortal ear,
The weakness of our human love confessing,
The promise that a love more strong is near.
May God be with you!
Why do we say it when the tears are starting?
Why must a word so sweet bring only pain?
Our love seems all – sufficient till the parting,
And then we feel it impotent and vain.
May God be with you!
Oh, may He guide and bless and keep you ever,
He who is strong to battle with your foes;
Whoever fails, His love can fail you never,
And all your need He in his wisdom knows.
May God be with you!
Better than earthly presence, e’en the dearest,
Is the great blessing that our partings bring;
For in the loneliest moments God is nearest,
And from our sorrows heavenly comforts spring,
If God be with us.
Good-by, good-by! With latest breath we say it,
A legacy of hope and faith and love.
Parting must come, we cannot long delay it;
But one in Him, we hope to meet above,
If God be with us.
Good-by! ‘Tis all we have for one another;
Ourlove, more strong than death, is helpless still!
For none can take the burden from his brother,
Or shield, except by prayer, from any ill,
May God be with you!
“Helpless” by Phoebe Carey
You never said a word to me
That was cruel under the sun;
It is n’t the things you do, Darling,
But the things you leave undone.
If you could know a wish or want,
You would grant it joyfully;
Ah, that is the worst of all, Darling,
That you cannot know or see.
For favors free alone are sweet,
Not those that we must seek;
If you loved me as I love you, Darling,
I would not need to speak.
But to-day I am helpless as a child
That must be led along;
Then put your hand in mine, Darling,
And make me brave and strong.
There’s a heavy care upon my mind,
A trouble on my brain;
Now gently stroke my hair, Darling,
And take away the pain.
I feel a weight within my breast,
As if all had gone amiss;
Oh, kiss me with thy lips, Darling,
And fill my heart with bliss!
Enough! No deeper joy than this
For souls below is given;
Now take me in your arms, Darling,
And lift me up to Heaven!