Author: John Frederick Freeman

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    You that were
    Half my life ere life was mine;
    You that on my shape the sign
    Set of yours;
    You that my young lips did kiss
    When your kiss summed up my bliss....
    Ah, once more
    You to kiss were all my bliss!

    You whom I
    Could forget--strange, could forget
    Even for days (ah, now the fret
    Of my grief!);
    You who loved me though forgot;
    Welcomed still, reproaching not....
    Ah, that now
    That forgetting were forgot!

    You that now
    On my shoulder as I go
    Put your hand that wounds me so;
    You that brush
    Yet my lips with that one last
    Kiss that bitters all things past....
    How shall I
    Yet endure that kiss the last?

    You that are
    Where the feet of my blind grief
    Find you not, nor find relief;
    You that are
    Where my thought flying after you
    Broken falls and flies anew,
    Now you're gone
    My love accusing aches for you.

    March 4, 1911.

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Type of Poem: Lyric Poem

Date Written:

Date Published:

Language: English

Keywords: Public Domain

Source: Public Domain Collection

Publisher:

Rights/Permissions: Public Domain

Comments/Notes: This poem, dated March 4, 1911, is a poignant exploration of love, loss, and the enduring pain of memory. The unnamed speaker communicates a profound sense of yearning and regret, with the repeated refrain, "You that," creating a litany that heightens the sense of longing. The use of anaphora, repeating the same word or phrase at the beginning of consecutive lines, generates a rhythmic, almost hypnotic quality, underscoring the speaker's obsessive reminiscence.

The theme of love's transience is deeply ingrained within the poem. This is expressed through the speaker's recollection of shared bliss and subsequent sorrow, the bitter contrast between past and present, and the enduring pain of a last kiss. The speaker's struggle to forget the loved one, only to be tormented by the act of forgetting, adds depth to the overall theme of loss. The final stanzas depict the speaker's futile attempts to reach the departed, the imagery suggesting a cyclical pattern of grief and longing that offers no resolution. The poem's structure, with its repeated refrains and consistent rhythm, mirrors this perpetual cycle. Despite its melancholic tone, the poem is, in essence, a tribute to a love once shared, showing that even in pain and loss, love leaves an indelible mark.