Elise.
I watched him through the lattice
As he went down the street,
And all my heart went with him
In many a wild pulse-beat.
'Twas in the gentle spring-time,
At the vanishing of snow,
And my sullen, stagnant nature
Began to bloom and blow—
Began to feel within it
Rise a strange, unearthly power,
As the perfume rises softly
In the newly-opened flower.
He brought me buds and blossoms,
He brought me gladness, too;
And I told him—told him truly,
When he came to woo.
A heaven on earth, my master!
My gracious lord, my king!
I knew thee when I saw thee,
And thy voice made silence ring.
The silences within me,
That never had been broke,
Passed into mystic music;
They heard thee, and awoke.
The world says I am fickle,
And that my heart is stone,
But I feel through all my being
That my soul and his are one.
His greatness ever lifts me
Where holier light is given.
How weak are thanks for blessings
Which shall endure in heaven!
