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10.9: The Haunter

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    3184
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    Thomas Hardy

    He does not think that I haunt here nightly:
    How shall I let him know
    That whither his fancy sets him wandering
    I, too, alertly go?—
    Hover and hover a few feet from him
    Just as I used to do,
    But cannot answer his words addressed me —
    Only listen thereto!

    When I could answer he did not say them:
    When I could let him know
    How I would like to join in his journeys
    Seldom he wished to go.
    Now that he goes and wants me with him
    More than he used to do,
    Never he sees my faithful phantom
    Though he speaks thereto.

    Yes, I accompany him to places
    Only dreamers know,
    Where the shy hares limp long paces,
    Where the night rooks go;
    Into old aisles where the past is all to him,
    Close as his shade can do,
    Always lacking the power to call to him,
    Near as I reach thereto!

    What a good haunter I am, O tell him,
    Quickly make him know
    If he but sigh since my loss befell him
    Straight to his side I go.
    Tell him a faithful one is doing
    All that love can do
    Still that his path may be worth pursuing,
    And to bring peace thereto.

    — 1912


    10.9: The Haunter is shared under a CC BY license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by LibreTexts.

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