Part 4 — LINES
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ADDRESSED TO ** **** ***** ON THE 29TH Of SEPTEMBER WHEN WE PARTED FOR THE LAST TIME. PUNCH.
I have watch'd thee with rapture, and dwelt on thy charms, As link'd in Love's fetters we wander'd each day; And each night I have sought a new life in thy arms, And sigh'd that our union could last not for aye.
But thy life now depends on a frail silken thread, Which I even by kindness may cruelly sever, And I look to the moment of parting with dread, For I feel that in parting I lose thee forever.
Sole being that cherish'd my poor troubled heart! Thou know'st all its secrets—each joy and each grief; And in sharing them all thou did'st ever impart To its sorrows a gentle and soothing relief.
The last of a long and affectionate race, As thy days are declining I love thee the more, For I feel that thy loss I can never replace— That thy death will but leave me to weep and deplore.
Unchanged, thou shalt live in the mem'ry of years, I can not—I will not—forget what thou wert! While the thoughts of thy love as they call forth my tears, In fancy will wash thee once more—MY LAST SHIRT. GRUB-STREET.