THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES , Vju* V LOVE'S HYMNAL SONNETS BY F. ROENA MEDINI LOVE'S HYMNAL BY F. ROENA MEDINI CAMBRIDGE, MASS. 1896 Copyright, 1896, Bv F. ROENA MEDINI. The Riverside Press, Cambridge, Mass., U.S.A. Electrotyped and Printed by H. O. Houghton & Co. 75 1254183 T OVE'S Hymnal this, as found on Cupid's J ' pyre, Where burned the hearts of hopeless manhood age; These tender plaints, this closely written page Illumined by the gleaming flames of fire, Burned not away, but sang its song to lyre Attuned to simple lay. O'erlooked by sage, A throbbing heart there paused, as if to gauge The pains of others with its own, as dire Misfortune ever turns to like for aid In time of need, best comforted to find That others' pains are keener than their own. Some comfort here the lover found, nor stayed To quench the flame that round the altar twined, And love hath since far dearer grown. "IV yf" Y love, my better self, read line on line, LVJ. j t j s mv sou i t h a t speaks, so, dear, fold down The leaves I send, to be my heart's renown. Within the temple of thy heart, if mine Hath raised with others there a holy shrine, Am I to hush my whispered prayer, or drown With tears the arches high, at love's mute frown ? If there an alien I should prove, Oh ! twine The altar I have raised with chaplets fair, To be my tomb, and love the grave that none Shall see, for love's dear sake. Imprisoned there I still shall live as memory lives, to shine Adown the pathway of thy life's decline, Till out of death, again life's victory 's won. i II T F my poor heart leaps forth in rhythmed line, -* And lips dare breathe what fluttering heart throbs tell, Think not the utterance came at birth, or fell From lips unwittingly. Long time the sign I strove to stifle in my breast, the wine That ferments in the darkness of its cell Is not at times more bitter in its well Than I, denouncing this mad love of mine. The wondering world would say, full well I know, If once it read the passion of my soul, " 'T were late," but not for torturing pains that grow To tempests that o'erwhelm like bitter fate. With weary brow and heavy feet, the goal I sought is known and reached, alas, too late. llabc's &nmnal III AND if thy beating heart the truth tells not, Believe no words of mine. Or if they start No echoing sigh, compassion's weary part I would not ask of thee. Such mournful lot Were sadder than these heavy tears that blot The page whereon I write. If thy warm heart Be dumb to throbbing of my own, apart From tender pity that some need begot, I am no more to thee than yonder moon That, why, thou canst not tell, within thy breast A sadness drops, that passes ere 't is noon. I am no more than they, once friends, who 've learned Thy bitterness through trust betrayed, more blest I 'd be by far, to know my friendship spurned. IV OINCE halting verse hath breathed this secret ^ care, Mine eyes refuse to master thine. One time, I held thee so aloof, and deemed it crime In that my pulse beat high, but now I dare Not stir the bubble of a thought, aware We both must strive for mastery to climb To summit of a life we 'd make sublime. And so, when thy dear eyes seek mine, I share With thee thy thought, yet will not look to read Thy heart's desire, lest that my lips lean hence To drink sweet nectar with true lovers' greed. Sternly I set our task with Art above All else, and hold in leash each quivering sense, To meet thy glance and chain with duty love. NOT joy, the cymbals strike to sound my heart. To hymn my thoughts, is bitterness the meed, Some sharply darting pain, the birth's sad need : Some growing doubt, that I who stand apart To catch the glow of morn, denying Art, Have reached too far, and so must stand indeed With empty hands, which, pricked with thorns, do bleed. But I, that, gazing, felt the poisoned dart Sped from thine eyes, had gladly swooned with pain, When trembling fear I had not read aright Crept in to strike a chill through every vein. And yet love turned no brighter page of fate Than just to love thee. 7, to morning light Awoke too soon, and thou, awoke too late. Eofac'd &nmnal VI NO vain desire speeds with the flash of wit, The sympathies that reaching out gain friends, Till 'round my woman's shrine, there kneeling bends A goodly company where queen I sit. Each conquest made, on memory's tablet writ, Is thought of thee, and added lustre lends To prove, in pleasing others, that amends It makes for pleasing thee, and if I flit, A restless bird, what better proof is thine Than that my heart, oft sad, its time beguiles ? If changed (I know the art), thou ne'er shalt see How deeply I may grieve. The bitter brine Of tears unshed, I '11 hide beneath the smiles The world found glad, because beloved by thee. VII LAST night I sat amidst a gallant throng When suddenly, my love, thou cam'st to me In thought ! Thy presence, thou, electric thee, In plenitude of will, as forceful, strong. Thy melting eye held mine a moment long, No more ; yet in that instant all to thee Had yielded sway, and faint, I could not see The surging faces of the crowd. The song A graceful singer sang, I had not heard. Beside me, some one spoke, and marveled much At pallor of my face ; I spoke no word, But wanly smiled. The spell, alas, was broke. A dream you were not there, and oft from such A vision, sweet with pain, I am awoke. fenmnal VIII DEAR heart, I dare not dream of what our lives Might be, if we were free to love, we two, As freely as the earth loves sun, the dew The flowers, when at thy fancied coming strives The soul for mastery, and almost rives In twain the body and its sense. To thee Grants God my ardent soul enslaved, and free Or bound, as thine, nor life nor death deprives. What then, if through the temple of the soul (Made meek by blights mankind can only guess) There shone a hope that heart to heart our years Might drift to peaceful calm that tangled mesh Of life unraveled, swift to us appears The blessed haven of that longed for goal. ftafar'rf IX TN loving thee a little, can it harm ? " *- Saidst thou ? The guerdon of a love is won By risking all, by giving all. Not one In this wide world hath loved, if love's alarm Held Cupid's bow in bondage, or the warm And beating heart its mercury limits run. To flee, to' crowd out thought, if it be done And so to " little love " be dwarfed, we arm The will and teach the heart, through chill of world's Calm reasoning, that love can buy or this, Or that, where Fate rules all. When she unfurls The scroll whereon is writ thy name and mine, Shall we there find a withered rose to kiss With tears, or deathless tendrils, love doth twine ? ilabc's WHEN first the fingers of our hands had yet But touched, I felt from thine electric stream Like lava through each limb. My thoughts which teem With fancies, much I blamed, and strictly set Unbending watch o'er folly, which, to let Unchidden go, disgraced, I thought, the dream I held of noble womanhood. The beam Of thy soft eye with loyalty I met My duty done, no thought could e'er intrude ; Yet when emotion in our hearts awoke Again, I chided mine, and said : " Be still, There 's danger here for him. My sufferings rude Must not o'ercast his spirit 'gainst my will." And so, my heart I on my honor broke. 10 XI T T 7HEN intuition taught me that to gain * Sweet peace, thy heart waged struggles fierce, there waked No thought of self. For thee my peace was staked, As guerdon of the wish to save you pain. But what of self ? I sought the path in vain. When o'er my lips the anxious flood escaped In sentences half formed, or voice enlaked In tears, that years of grief had left like rain, Unwept, thine eyes, true mirrors of thy soul, Cried out to me, " Thou for thyself dost plead." But when my lips had tremblingly turned mute, Thou saidst, " Give speech unto our souls, to roll The stone away and chide, is like a lute, And sweet as praise, what wots if I take heed." ii XII TO chide I feared, for in my heart there grew So swift a consciousness of love, delayed Till now, I shrank within my soul dismayed, And coldness barred my heart from self, till through The weary hours of night, no mother knew More holy longings, nor more humbly prayed, Than I for thee, whate'er thy life essayed. Again we stand unveiled to each, and true As magnets, sweep our souls in one, for time Eternal, and through space. Yet, gathering force, We utter words belying speech of eyes : Our honor staked 'gainst love, we know no course Beside, and bondsmen to ourselves, arise To stem the passion of a love sublime. 12 XIII WHAT though my pulses thrilled like mighty flame, That seething round half blinded me, I held At bay the prayer within thine eyes, impelled By powers above, beyond who knows ? (The same Hath guided us o'er pitfalls deep, we came Upon all unaware, when, still upheld By powers unseen, the raging storm is quelled, Before we Ve asked for strength through heavenly name.) In vain ! I stood confessed unto my soul, That nothing stood between my life and thee, But just so much of doubt that might be sin, To give thus much,were meant to give the whole, And then no more to self, denied, " to be " Was written on my heart, and burned therein. XIV WHAT greeting shall be given thee, my own, When, listening rapt, I hear thy step, and think That all the world has heard the sound to link Its bounding echo with my changed tone ? Shall I so steel my looks that thou alone Canst note the blood from out my lips doth sink To level of my heart, and o'er its brink The throbs rebound till, 'gainst my temples grown To thousand anvils, I but hear my voice An icy tone, that utters civil words In phrases rounded well for other ears ? So, greeting thee, my inward sense as birds Made tremulous, there rests no other choice, And opposite of that I am, appears. XV if thy coming find me quite alone, And, unaware, I ope the door to find Thee there enframed, and flame of joy behind The slower courtesy of speech, upthrown, Leaps forth from shining eyes, they swift atone By hiding in such offices the mind Conceives to mask itself, a spool to wind, To drape a curtain, this or that, till grown More calm, mine eyes can look in thine and speak Of trivial things, as if 't were they, not thee, Made up my sum of life, or else, turned weak, I scarcely dare give speech, lest lips too bold Such truths shall yield, I stand unveiled, and be Unworthy thee, and all thy heart may hold. XVI \T 7" HEN oft the longing for thy presence ^ * sweeps Like chilly blast across my aching heart, And, throbbing to its core, all else is part Of chaos, standing still in icy deeps Of space, wherein Time's dial mutely weeps, Refusing more to move, since we apart Must stand, in visions comest thou, to start The universe in rhythmic beat, . . . upleaps My soul to rest in thine its piteous care, And once again, by vision pacified, I mingle with the world, speak light, am gay, And teach my heart it illy does to wear A grief that burns earth's uses from my day, But swift returned, my grief is magnified. 16 Eobr's' XVII WHAT though thy tenderness like cloak enfold Me round, and soft as dew thy kisses fall Upon my face ? my doubting heart must call It pity's proof, not love's, thy heart doth hold, Lest ardor of my own, which, grown too bold, Interpretations make, and wrong to all The rarer tenderness thy speech let fall, Begot by no such flame as mine, if told At morn, at noon, at night thy love, if held The idol of thy heart, I still these fears Must court, that, self-deceived, thou lov'dst me not. And so, 't is best this love of mine (impelled As flowers to hide when noonday's sun appears), Beyond the joy of loving thee, asks nought. Kobe's XVIII T T 7HEN first my mocking lips were brushed * * by thine More soft than breezes kiss the flowers at morn, I know not how my life awoke newborn ; Within thy arms, thy lips enshrined in mine, I had forgot, and blushed, that, like a vine, I clung to thee as if to part had torn Love's rapture from my heart. So long I 'd worn The mask indifference, that to now incline My head unto thy will, and on thy breast To sudden trembling take, was yielding quite. But brief such dream to woman, who awakes To danger of her love. For her the test, To rise to strength, and from such joy take flight For her is left the pain brief rapture makes. 18 ILobc's' ??nmual XIX AT Venice, in the centuries now past, Near entrance to the Doge's palace, stood A lion, 'twixt whose lips, for worldly good, The people placed each plaint or prayer. . . . Thou, cast Before the palace of my heart, as fast The secrets, mute as he, receiv'st my brood Of plaints, my vows, my prayers, that, often sued, Outnumber drops within the ocean vast. Swift on thy ruby lips with blessings kissed Is laid my prayer, with repetitions soft, And then I speed away with guilty face, As they, too, sped from urgent prayer, which oft Had wronged their gracious rights withal ; but list, Still unrepentant, here my prayer I place. XX WHEN once thy hand outreached sought mine, awaked By tenderness, my own poor hand crept in, And like a rose with folded leaves, its thin And taper fingers, that full long had ached To know such loving joy, lay still and slaked Their burning thirst for loving touch therein, Till, pulses calmed, no fluttering bird within Its nest could fold its weary wings (though waked Ere dawn) with gentler restfulness. My hand Since then hath grown more gentle to mankind, Hath seemed as if for lofty purpose planned. In other grasp it hath not long remained, As if once sanctified, it shrank to find Itself in heedless clasp o'ermuch detained. 20 iLofar's" XXI "\ T THEN first I knew thee, swiftly words of praise My lips would pass, as men give praise to men; Or women, each to each, now and again Will frankly praise a son's, a father's ways Quite innocent of deeper sense than weighs Beneath our idlest words. I found that when We least expect, love's fetters hide, and then Are welded fast through all our future days. Since when, I scarce can say thy name, so fast My pulses bound, and others chance in speech To say or this, or that of thee. To frame Thy praise I coldly speak, or seek to cast Aside the consciousness of love, to reach That calm control indifference may claim. 21 XXII / "T"*HOU hast assured me oft I need not fear -*- Thy loss, and yet, 'twixt thought and speech there lies The subtle field interpretation. Wise And chosen words mislead the heart, a tear Belies a phrase, and so, grown glad while near, When gone, swift fears that I mistook thee rise Like haunting ghosts, and then within me dies The comfort thou hadst left. My duty clear, Again I chide my heart for loving thee, Lest that I lay upon thy spirit aught Of weight that draws unto itself a sigh, A tear, nay any melancholy thought That might in loving service, bold and free, More happily be given were I not nigh. 22 XXIII TF I do wrong my love and thee, to sow -* Such unbelief, an abnegation this Of love's great joy, sorely its good I miss ; Yet, placing far away the hopes, 't is so An adamantine wall 'gainst bitterer blow Of disappointment. But I love thee, kiss Thee as my spirit's good, and feel such bliss Must overtop by far a worldly show Of reasoning. I love thee ! Love thou me. But love me as thou lov'st the sun, no less Thine own, if missed a day, and wakes no fear Its beams will fail to shine again on thee. Or, love me as thou lov'st the stars, that, near Or far, do glow with tender watchfulness. gggmnal XXIV AND how, my heart of hearts, shall I love thee ? What plenitude of words could tell thee how, And never falter, never err. I vow My love, and yet the pictured speech, I see When done, hath outlined merely. Drawn as free As artist's hand, but still I must allow 'T would fit a hundred loves that humbly bow Before the throne of Cupid. Mine must be I know not what, the gladness of the spheres, The sadness of the grave, the light of heaven, The pains of hell. The joyous laugh, the tears That ope the floodgates of the soul, the songs Of tenderness and mirth, the fears that leaven Every bliss, and trust which rights all wrongs. 24 XXV T LOVE thee with the childlike faith of one J- Believing God, with purity that shines Above an angel's brow ; with love that binds Our hearts in simpler deeds of life, that run On level of its arduous duties done. Its talks, its walks, the glance, the sigh, it finds Swift sympathies in each. A love that blinds Us so, we scarce beneath its dazzling sun Can choose the path, for O, I love thee too With woman's struggling heart, whom love doth wound Till oft she falters o'er the brink of wrong For him who doth her heart's desire imbue, And right for God. What more but to be strong ? For love debased, alas, is love uncrowned. Eobc'S XXVI IN all the years I lived, not knowing thee, Amidst my griefs there dwelt a soulful sight, Upholding me as one that seeth a light. There waked no sound, unthrilled from thee to me, No sadness could I know, that 'neath it, free As chimes of bells, did not thy coming bright Ring out. How could my griefs bring blight When it was writ thy light mine eyes should see ! Philosophy hath bitter laws ; we grow, And reach, and yearn for what we scarcely know ; Then Cupid, perching unaware, his tip Speeds forth, to shatter castles high as air. So strong, grave science hath no art nor care To fill, yet Cupid's bow the whole can trip. 26 XXVII WHEN, years agone, a sudden oenscious thought Passed through thy mother's heart th' unwritten word, I bless the quickened pulse that in her stirred The knowledge of thy sacred charge, which naught But God's own will could her gainsay ; where aught That blessed or beautified her sight, or bird That soared, each glorious song or sound she heard Was cherished for the sake of life she sought To nourish with her being's tenderest care. I bless her for her daily thoughts that grew To hopeful love ; I bless her for the dreams She wove into the garb she 'd have thee wear. I can but think, of all the brood she knew, Thy advent, rich with love, the dearest seems. 27 Hgmnal XXVIII I LOVE the earth whereon thy shadow 's laid, The sun that kisses thee, the moon that peeps Into the casement where my loved one sleeps. I love the book wherein the letters fade That bear the name thy boyish ringers made. I love the ivory which forever keeps The impress of thy staying touch, or leaps 'Neath mine to hopeful sounds, when, sore afraid, I sighed that only these remain to me. I love a voice in certain tearful song, Grown sacred since one day it spoke of thee. And should the grave cast o'er thee noisome breath, I 'd love the mound that sheltered thee, and long To meet, while blessing it, th' embrace of death. 28 XXIX I BLESS the maidens who have loved thee well, (I cannot blame the ones who tempted thee). Each rose-leaf round thy footsteps cast must be The memories tender, whose sweet perfume tell The fateful, dearest love that thee befell, Was last among the roses on its tree. It with rare fragrance hung there lovingly, A little shook by storms that sweep the dell, A trifle pale from tears the night doth start ; But when, at look of thine, it blushed again, New life suffused its ardent veins, and leaf By leaf the history of sweet love's belief Is written softly there, with Cupid's dart, And waits alone for thy dear heart's Amen. 29 XXX IF these my written words, with love aglow, Were all that in thy life remained of me, I wonder if thy heart, at last set free, Might not forget ? Then be it so ! What greater praise than that the notes that grow More sweet with love awake thy heart, and be Forgot the singer, not the song ? When we Give love, and ask no counterpart, we know The joy of worship is our recompense. When joy's sweet pain outlives its parent stem, As must the thorn outlive the fragrant rose, Full oft the fragrance o'er our dreaming sense Will swift recall the happier day, and so Be born that perfect peace, love's diadem. XXXI TF I remained content to hear thy name, -* To see thee pass afar, though thou mightst yearn To see my face, thou soon unmoved wouldst turn Away without a sigh. It is the same With graves we pass each day: when sorrow came, The mourner grieved ; accustomed grief will burn And sear the heart, till much alike, we learn, Is sad indifference, which, to gentler frame, We call the " healing o'er of time." Farewell ! Necessity to part is ever sad, Yet worse the love that of the grave hath breath. So then I flee, when to have stayed, with glad And tender touches of thy hand to tell Of love, were bliss ; to go, a living death. XXXII ALAS, alas, for youth's dear sake, I ought Not sing such sad refrain, but guide my song Until, triumphant, it might ring so strong That heaven would echo to the gladness caught. No life so sad it hath not light inwrought With sombre woof ; no heart so dead, the wrong It suffered may not hope reward. The long And dreary road hath aye an end, and, sought Or anxiously evaded, death will free The soul from endless striving 'gainst a fate We vainly seek through life to subjugate, With hope to grow in attributes, that, done With earth, the higher joys of heaven will be Conceded recompense for perils run. ILobc'S XXXIII T WONDER, if beholding me thus worn And shaken with the weary years, a tear Will not, beneath thine eyelids, dim thy dear And kindly sight ; and if so loved, though born To less of joy than all the world, my torn And bleeding heart were not repaid the fear It held, by thee forgot, that year by year Must heavier prove than could be easy borne ? Nay, nay, I would not have thy love at cost So dear to thee ; that I be tempest-toss'd, It is enough, and better far the thought, To stand aside, if thou wert passing by, To gather to my heart the pain it brought, Remain unseen, and bless thee with each sigh. 33 XXXIV ONE time I thought, when griefs grew old, my face Would claim again its tender outlines, glow With all the light that once reflected so The happiness within ; for oft the grace Of years may softer beauty interlace Than youth hath ever known ; but though my woe Be banished from my face, and waking grow To brightness with the interests of our race, Asleep, the angel Sorrow draws her lines Deep in wherever she hath cast her shade, And only grief remains. At morn the brines Of bitter tears hath washed therein so deep, Nor youth nor hope, one vestige more doth keep, And joy handmaiden of dire woe is made. 34 XXXV WHEN some one spake thy name, to say, " He comes," My soul took courage ; yet, last night, so dark The way, I wondered how, with not a spark Of light about my path, no meagre crumbs Of comfort, I could bear this grief that numbs The heart to common joy. Death, grim and stark, Holds not the dread that loveless life doth mark The years withal ; so, when they said, " He comes," I joyed, although I wished my weary face Might be forever hid, as one long dead : Remembered ever with its youth, its light, And rosy tints ; remembered with no trace Of age or care ; beloved because so bright, Not cherished for the beauty that has fled. 35 XXXVI IN all the shipwrecks of earth's stormy life, Thine eyes still beam the beacon o'er its sea. When others fail, thou, steadfast, art to me God's truth, the gleam of sun that 'midst the strife Doth light my path when bitter doubts are rife. When all seems false and hollow, then I see Thy face, I feel thy touch, and know in thee Those virtues which true manhood claims ; thy life The one just thing that weary days have known, The rest as false as happiness we dress The face withal, or smiles one scatters round To hide the wounds that bleed within, now grown Too old and deep for surgeon's knife to sound. I thank thee, love, for Faith's sweet happiness. XXXVII WHEN through me thrilled the conscious ness of power To move in thee emotions that thy glance Alone could wake, I shuddered at the chance Temptation, seeking to dispel the hour Of glamour which too ardent souls o'erpower, I scarce dared touch thy hand when in the dance We moved to rhythm sweet that e'er enhanced The wondrous charm. " Not love, true love, my dower, How could he find in this world-beaten shell The ideal love a poet seeks ? I wield Some power, perhaps," I mused, " yet time would tell How fleeting transient passion's reign can be," And worldly wise, I saw, but would not yield ; Yet futile all my struggles to be free ! 37 XXXVIII PR when we sing I see the blood recede From out thy face, my own to follow it, A-vibrate with the thrilling tones that flit From note to note, soul-stirred by words that lead To sense of sad farewell. The sudden need Of strength breaks o'er my heart. Aroused, I sit, Thy critic stern, a word, rebuke, admit No faltering, till back we 're swept and freed From slumbering passion that would overleap Control. O dreaming hearts, back, back to earth, Hypocrisy, to falsehood, which sweet eyes Gainsay, but spell me not with lovers' sighs To ask if I do love, or else I keep The truth in leash, denying Cupid's birth ! XXXIX I SAID, " To part is better for us both ; " Yet, love, while granting danger, great to thee, What boon in all this life is left to me So sweet as tender love, whose daily growth I battled with all laws of mind, and loath To yield e'en then, I fled because, to see Thee knowing it a wrong, could never be, The purer love we 'd choose to give in oath. Is it enough that thou canst see beneath This outward form of me some flame Akin to thine, though worlds would mate us not ? If sometimes selfish earth's desires bequeath The pains of longings vain, they only came To prove (when overcome) their blessed lot. 39 XL THE joyous bells of hope and deathless love Are waked this morn to sound such ring ing songs, I scarce can spell the one that most belongs To calmer beat of love's repose. Above Their broken music, like a restful dove, My heart in gladness sweet with memory throngs, Forgetting quite the bitterness and wrongs That Fate heaped high to check true love. Mine own, when glad I read the crowded page Whereon thy love and hopelessness doth wage, I am not saddened by the maze of pain That tripped our wary feet ; if they deceived Two earnest hearts, 't is past, and ours the gain, Believing, and regretting not that we believed. 40 XLI WHEN thou art nigh, I have no words, no speech, For swiftly chasing thoughts ; I only know That thou art mine for space so brief, I throw Away much tender joy within my reach, In dread of that grim spectre who to each Will swiftly come and say, " 'T is time to go." And then, thou gone, my thoughts with tumult grow To words I might have said when eyes could teach My meaning, or thy lips with swifter kiss Had sealed my own with " Yes, I understand." O love, my king, thou knowest this, all this, That love is deathless 'midst the chaos life. Nor reasoning cold, philosophy, nor strife Can bury love, or love withstand. Lobe'6 Dumnal XLII DOUBT thou a love that fears the sun, Or shames itself to speak thus heart to heart, But not of love that hath no thought apart From thee. Each heart-beat of the past was one Of longing for the joy that is, we run The gauntlet of emotions that up start Alert to recognize dear Cupid's dart, But how atone for wrong that has been done When errant Fancy left sore wounds behind ? Let cautiousness o'ermatch the cunning jade, If we mistook for love her thin disguise. Evaded and unsought came love when Cupid blind, Unmindful of his mark, the murderer played And pinioned us, midst tears and sighs. NO 42 Iotoe'0 XLIII AS on the threshold of fruition sweet, I pause, and question yet, if right toward thee, How stubborn dual egos are to free From doubt the aye and nay my heart must meet. Can love's great boon be realized, nor fleet The happiness once disbelieved ? In fee, One might accept a taste of joy ; but see The goal too dear to hope in dreams, I greet Its semblance with a doubt. Forgive, O love, Long time it is, since in the spirit, thine I vowed myself, take also thou the blame Of holding me, as I hold thee. The dove Of Peace, in loving trust, our hearts shall tame, And earth a heaven become in life's decline. 43 Lane's hpmnal XLIV LOVE wedded, adds to sleep the blissful sense Of Presence, and the heart o'er-full oft wakes To joy in joy, or midway slumb'ring, takes A gladsome comfort stretching thence A hand inertly, sleepily where dense The darkness lies, to touch, as light as flakes Of snow, the dear one's cheek, who mayhap, wakes, Or, sleeping still, imprints the seal intense Of lips' devotion, or detains the hand With loving replications of its touch, As if to say, " God bless thee, dear, 't is planned That sleeping, waking, or in death, thus much Thou knowest well, through this unerring bond, Shall each to each our soul's pure love respond." 44 Lote's XLV AND I, grown fonder with the years and thee, Must wonder that the dial Time, so swift With griefs for others, yet has left no rift In summer of our hearts. I feared to be Content ; to find myself thus truly free To love, and be so loved. That I may lift A thankful heart, receive the treasured gift And call it wholly mine, is marvel glad, And so I hold my happiness in trust, Half fearing that, like angel visitant, It prove as brief. This joy, if I make sad With less than heaven's confidence, I must Deny its God and sin, a militant. 45 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY Los Angeles This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. Form L9-Series 4939 PS2378. MA69L Ujj SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 000025264 S 1 5 m PLEA DO NOT REMOVE THIS BOOK CARDj University Research Library 03