'Tis the scene where youth beheld thee;
'Tis the trysting-place of yore;
Yes, my mighty grief hath spell'd thee,
Blooming—living—mine once more!
PART III.
LOVE UNTO DEATH.
Hand in hand we stood confiding,
Boy and maiden, hand in hand,
Where the path, in twain dividing,
Reach'd the Undiscover'd Land.
Oh, the Hebé then beside me,
Oh, the embodied Dream of Youth,
With an angel's soul to guide me,
And a woman's heart to soothe!
Like the Morning in the gladness
Of the smile that lit the skies;
Liker Twilight in the sadness
Lurking deep in starry eyes!
Gaudier flowerets had effaced thee
In the formal garden set;
Nature in the shade had placed thee
With thy kindred violet;
As the violet to completeness
Coming evèn ere the day;
All thy life a silent sweetness
Waning with a warmer ray.
So, upon the verge of sorrow
Stood we, blindly, hand in hand,
Whispering of a happy morrow
In that undiscover'd land.
Thou, O meek one, fame foretelling,
Grown ambitious but for me;
While my heart, if proudly swelling,
Beat—ah, not for Fame, but thee!
In that summer-noon we parted,
Life redundant over all.
Once again—O broken-hearted—
When the autumn leaves did fall,