Eloisa to Abelard

May one kind grave unite each hapless name,

And graft my love immortal on thy fame!

Then, ages hence, when all my woes are o'er,

When this rebellious heart shall beat no more.

If ever Chance two wand'ring lovers brings

To Paraclete's white walls and silver springs,

O'er the pale marble shall they join their heads.

And drink the falling tears each other sheds;

Then sadly say, with mutual pity mov'd,

"Oh may we never love as these have lov'd!"

From the full choir, when loud Hosannas rise,

And swell the pomp of dreadful sacrifice,

Amid that scene, if some relenting eye

Glance on the stone where our cold relics lye,

Devotion's self shall steal a thought from heav'n,

One human tear shall drop, and be forgiven.

And sure, if Fate some future bard shall join

In sad similitude of griefs like mine,

Condemn'd whole years in absence to deplore,

And image charms he must behold no more;

Such if there be, who loves so long, so well;

Let him our sad, our tender, story tell;

The well-sung woes will smooth my pensive ghost:

He best can paint e'm, who shall feel 'em most.