"Am I to lose you now?" The words were light;
You spoke them, hardly seeking a reply,
That day I bid you quietly "Good-bye,"
And sought to hide my soul away from sight.

The question echoed, dear, through many a night,
My question, not your own, most wistfully;
"Am I to lose him?" asked my heart of me;
"Am I to lose him now, and lose him quite?"

And only you can tell me. Do you care
That sometimes we in quietness should stand
As fellow-solitudes, hand firm in hand,
And thought with thought and hope with hope compare?

What is your answer? Mine must ever be,
"I greatly need your friendship: leave it me."