The Difference
I
Sinking down by the gate I discern the thin moon,
And a blackbird tries over old airs in the pine,
But the moon is a sorry one, sad the bird’s tune,
For this spot is unknown to that Heartmate of mine.
II
Did my Heartmate but haunt here at times such as now,
The song would be joyous and cheerful the moon;
But she will see never this gate, path, or bough,
Nor I find a joy in the scene or the tune.
This poem is in the public domain. Published in Poem-a-Day on October 7, 2018, by the Academy of American Poets.
“The Difference” was published in Selected Poems of Thomas Hardy (Macmillan, 1916).
Thomas Hardy
Thomas Hardy, whose books include Tess of the d’Urbervilles and Jude the Obscure, was one of the most influential novelists and poets of England’s Victorian era. He died on January 11, 1928.