So sweetly she bade me adieu, I thought that she bade me return.

The couplet turns on a poignant ambiguity: a farewell delivered with such warmth that it is mistaken for an invitation to come back. Shenstone captures the self-deception of a lover who reads hope into courtesy, and the way tone can override literal meaning. The sweetness of the adieu suggests lingering affection (or at least gentleness), while the speaker’s inference—“return”—reveals desire projecting itself onto the beloved’s words. In miniature, it dramatizes how partings can be emotionally double-edged: kindness can intensify loss by making separation feel less final than it is.