I looked for that which is not, nor can be,
And hope deferred made my heart sick, in truth;
But years must pass before a hope of youth
Is resigned utterly.
I watched and waited with a steadfast will:
And, tho' the object seemed to flee away
That I so longed for, ever, day by day,
I watched and waited still.
Sometimes I said,--"This thing shall be no more;
My expectation wearies, and shall cease;
I will resign it now, and be at peace:"--
Yet never gave it o'er.
Sometimes I said,--"It is an empty name
I long for; to a name why should I give
The peace of all the days I have to live?"--
Yet gave it all the same.
Alas! thou foolish one,--alike unfit
For healthy joy and salutary pain,
Thou knowest the chase useless, and again
Turnest to follow it.