III + 

Separation + 

Stop⁠—Not to me, at this bitter departing, + 

Speak of the sure consolations of Time. + 

Fresh be the wound, still-renew’d be its smarting, + 

So but thy image endure in its prime. + 

But, if the steadfast commandment of Nature + 

Wills that remembrance should always decay; + 

If the lov’d form and the deep-cherish’d feature + 

Must, when unseen, from the soul fade away⁠— + 

Me let no half-effac’d memories cumber! + 

Fled, fled at once, be all vestige of thee⁠— + 

Deep be the darkness, and still be the slumber⁠— + 

Dead be the Past and its phantoms to me! + 

Then, when we meet, and thy look strays toward me, + 

Scanning my face and the changes wrought there⁠— + 

Who, let me say, is this Stranger regards me, + 

With the grey eyes, and the lovely brown hair? + 