And my soul foreboded sorrow, should that jewel be revealed,
And I almost hoped that none might enter in.
Yet day and night I lingered by that fatal chamber door,
Till—she came at last, my darling one, of all the earth my own;
And she entered—and she vanished with my jewel, which she wore;
And the door was closed—and I was left alone.
She gave me back no jewel, but the spirit of her eyes
Shone with tenderness a moment, as she closed that chamber door,
And the memory of that moment is all I have to prize—
But that, at least, is mine forevermore.