Does there within thy dimmest dreams
A possible future shine,
Wherein thy life could henceforth breathe,
Untouched, unshared by mine?
If so, at any pains or cost,
Oh, tell me before all is lost.
Look deeper still. If thou canst feel
Within thy inmost soul,
That thou hast kept a portion back,
While I have staked the whole,—
Let no false pity spare the blow,
But in true mercy tell me so.
Is there within thy heart a need
That mine cannot fulfil?
One cord that any other hand
Could better wake or still?
Speak now—lest at some future day
My whole life wither and decay.
—Adelaide Anne Proctor.
2050
A WOMAN'S NOBLEST STATION.
Seek to be good, but aim not to be great;
A woman's noblest station is retreat:
Her fairest virtues fly from public sight;
Domestic worth,—that, shuns too strong a light.
2051
Kindness in women,
Not their beauteous looks,
Shall win my love.
—Shakespeare.