Love, the world's life! What a sad death br Thy absence is to lose our breath br At once and die, is but to live br Enlarged, without the scant reprieve br Of pulse and air: whose dull returns br And narrow circles the soul mourns. br But to be dead alive, and still br To wish, but never have our will: br To be possessed, and yet to miss; br To wed a true but absent bliss: br Are lingering tortures, and their smart br Dissects and racks and grinds the heart! br As soul and body in that state br Which unto us seems separate, br Cannot be said to live, until br Reunion; which days fulfil br And slow-paced seasons: so in vain br Through hours and minutes (Time's long train,) br I look for thee, and from thy sight, br As from my soul, for life and light. br For till thine eyes shine so on me, br Mine are fast-closed and will not see.