Spirit! I’ve built a shrine; and thou hast come;
And on its altar closed—for ever closed thy plume!”
Gifts of rings by lovers have always been common; but the intimate relation between husband and wife brings toils, duties and sacrifices which generally charm off ordinary love tokens. It is comforting, however, when the husband can look to the past, to the present, to the future with sentiments like those embraced in the following beautiful lines in connection with the gift of a ring:
“TO MRS. ——, WITH A RING.
“‘Thee, Mary, with this ring I wed,’—
So, sixteen years ago, I said—
Behold another ring—for what?
To wed thee o’er again? Why not?
With that first ring I married youth,