XXIV
LOVE'S GIFT
I'm far from thee, yet oft our spirits meet:
We share the longings of each other's breast,
And all our joys and sorrows are confest
As though our lips did love's fond tale repeat.
Ah! then thine eyes send forth, mine eyes to greet,
Glances in which thy whole soul is exprest,
Then, like some song-bird flutt'ring in its nest,
I hear thy heart in pulsing cadence beat.
I know its music and I know its thought;
My heart to it th' unuttered words supplies;
I listen to the thrilling melody
Until my soul its subtle tone hath caught.
And then I take it as Love's gift,—it lies
Imprisoned in my own weak poesy!
EPILOGUE
From out the golden dawn of vanished years
She glides into my dreams, a form divine
Of light and love, to soothe the thoughts that pine
For what has been, to stem the tide of tears
That inward flows upon the heart and sears
Its inmost core. Her countenance benign,
Where Love and Pity's chastened graces shine,
Reflects the hallowed light of other spheres.
Then to my anguished soul, with care outworn,
Comes, like a strain on aerial wings upborne,
This message from her soul:—'Bid sorrow cease;
Love dies not;—'tis th' immortal life above.
And chastened souls, that win eternal peace
Through earthly suff'ring, know that Heaven is Love!'