Take back the heart

Take back the heart that thou gavest,

What is mine anguish to thee;

Take back the freedom thou cravest,

Leaving the anguish to me.

Take back the vows thou has spoken,

Fling them aside and be free;

Smile o'er each pitiful token,

Leaving the sorrow for me.

Drink deep of life's fond illusion,

Gaze on the storm-cloud and flee

Swiftly through strife and confusion,

Leaving the burden to me.

Then when at last overtaken,

Time flings it fetters o'er thee;

Come with a trust still unshaken,

Come back in sadness or sorrow,

Once more my darling to be;

Come as of old, love, to borrow

Glimpses of sunlight from me.

Love shall resume her dominion,

Striving no more to be free,

When on her world-weary pinion

Flies back my lost love to me.