Far away from you I roam,

Far away from friends and loved ones,

And your pretty cottage home.

O’er my soul a twilight gathers,

That is deep’ning into night,

But from out the shadowy distance

Shines a soft, familiar light.

It is memory’s beacon lantern,

O’er it arching is your name;

Round it recollections cluster,

As the moth about the flame.

Though the future tries to cheat us,

Throwing many miles between,

Brighter burns the little taper

As the distance intervenes.

Good-bye, Maggie, will you miss me?

Absence conquers many a heart,

Plucks the roses from the garland,

Tears the evergreen apart;

Enters at the open lattice,

As a guest unbidden not,

Draws the curtain o’er the window,

Writes upon the door—“Forgot.”

Oh! what mean these idle sayings,

And whence come these idle fears?

As I fold you to my bosom

On my face I feel your tears;

Tears—they are a silent language

That interpret best the heart,

And I love you for them, darling—

Good-bye, Maggie, we must part.