A Woman's Farewell

SO with this farewell kiss I taste at last
 The all of life; the Future and the Past
 Upon your dear lips dwell.
 Love will not come again, though I implore;
 And in my heart a twilight evermore—
  Farewell!   
  A man's heart is so wide that I was wrong
 To dream that I could fill it with the song
 A woman loves so well;
 A woman's heart is narrow, but I filled
 Mine brimming with your kisses—none was spilled—
  Farewell!   
  So fierce your love was, I was half-afraid.
 The roses blossom and the roses fade;
 The withered petals tell!
 So high into your heart you lifted me,
 So far I have to fall, since it must be
  Farewell!   
  Now all the world I fashioned round me falls;
 And from the past one memory calls and calls,
 Grieving, and like a knell;
 Now all the days like drear regrets shall seem,
 And all the nights—the nights! ..I dare not dream!
  Farewell!   
 
  But what if I can hold you, hold you yet
 Till all else but my lips you must forget:
 If love could but compel!
 But all the mystic hopes our hearts have heard
 Must droop and wither to this wistful word—
  Farewell!   
  My love was like a little child to me;
 Now in my heart 't is crying piteously—
 Hush, dear! all will be well!
 My lips on yours for ever! Say again
 You love me—though it be not true—and then—
  Farewell!