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‹Better GutenbergLate Lyrics and Earlier“I Was Not He” (Song) · 14 of 151Contents›

Late Lyrics and Earlier

by Thomas Hardy

14 of 151 · Contents · Download EPUB

“I Was Not He” (Song)

I was not he—the man
Who used to pilgrim to your gate,
At whose smart step you grew elate,
   And rosed, as maidens can,
      For a brief span.

It was not I who sang
Beside the keys you touched so true
With note-bent eyes, as if with you
   It counted not whence sprang
      The voice that rang...

Yet though my destiny
It was to miss your early sweet,
You still, when turned to you my feet,
   Had sweet enough to be
      A prize for me!

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