In my still heart's deep
I gloried in the trust
He handed me to keep,
In his quiet "I must."
No more we said that night,
But sat in the gloom;
We sat without candle-light
In our little room.
Handfast, like girl and boy,
There we sat on,
Hoarding our store of joy
Against he were gone.
Handfast, like boy and girl,
And my eyes they did fill;
But my heart was in a whirl
To have him there still.
'Twas when we were abed,
And I against his heart,
That I knew the great dread
It would be to part.
Old sayings, that sounded new,
Sweet, every broken word—
"My Nancy, sweet and true,
My pretty wild bird!"
I let him kiss me, but I
Lay quite still in his arm:
If I had started to cry
God only knew the harm!
And if he thought me cool
'Twould make an easier going;
But if he thought me cool
'Twas not for want of knowing.
Towards the twilight gray
When my love was sleeping,
I sat upright to pray,
And heard the sparrows cheeping.
It was their fond love-twitter
That broke my prayer down,
Turn'd all my faith bitter,
To set it by their own.