| Thomas R. Lounsbury, ed. (1838–1915). Yale Book of American Verse. 1912. |
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| Edward Rowland Sill. 1841–1887 |
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| 211. The Coup de Grace |
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| IF I were very sure | |
| That all was over betwixt you and me— | |
| That, while this endless absence I endure | |
| With but one mood, one dream, one misery | |
| Of waiting, you were happier to be free,— | 5 |
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| Then I might find again | |
| In cloud and stream and all the winds that blow, | |
| Yea, even in the faces of my fellowmen, | |
| The old companionship; and I might know | |
| Once more the pulse of action, ere I go. | 10 |
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| But now I cannot rest, | |
| While this one pleading, querulous tone without | |
| Breaks in and mars the music in my breast. | |
| I open the closed door—lo! all about, | |
| What seem your lingering footprints; then I doubt. | 15 |
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| Waken me from this sleep! | |
| Strike fearless, let the naked truth-edge gleam! | |
| For while the beautiful old past I keep, | |
| I am a phantom, and all mortals seem | |
| But phantoms, and my life fades as a dream. | 20 |
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