MARRIAGE
"One sacred oath hath tied
Our loves; one destiny our life shall guide;
Nor wild nor deep our common way divide!"
Choral voices float around us, music on the night air swells;
Hill and dell resound with echoes of the gleeful wedding bells!
Ushered thus, we haste to enter on a scene of radiant joy—
List'ning vows in ardor plighted, which alone can death destroy.
Passing fair the bride appeareth, in her robes of snowy white,
While the veil around her streameth, like a silvery halo's light;
And amid her hair's rich braidings rests the pearly orange bough,
With its fragrant blossoms pressing on her pure, unclouded brow.
Love's devotion yields the future with young Hope's resplendent beam;
And her spirit thrills with rapture, yielding to its blissful dream!