He read another poem by Aubrey de Vere, and these words seemed to sink into his heart as he read them:
"Hid it; dropt it on the moors!
Lost it, and you cannot find it—
My own heart I want, not yours
You have bound and must unbound it.
Set it free then from your net,
We will love, sweet—but not yet!
Fling it from you—we are strong
Love is trouble, love is folly;
Love, that makes an old heart young,
Makes a young heart melancholy."
Robert felt that love might be trouble, but that love was the greatest and sweetest thing in the world and that he would go thru any troubles in the world, suffer anything, only to regain Marie and her love. As Robert slowly turned the pages of the little book, his eyes fell upon another poem, "Courage" by Thos. F. Porter:
"What if the morn no joy to you shall bring,
No gleam of sunbeam shine across your way;
What if no bird one joyous note shall sing
Into your listening ear thru all the day!
What if no word of comfort you shall hear
As thru the hours long you toil and strive;
What if to you no vision bright appear
To keep your hungry heart and soul alive!
What if the blest companionship men crave
Come not to you thru all the day's long length,
But, bound and fettered even as a slave,
Within yourself you have to find your strength!
And if, when you have toiled and wrought alone,
The sweet reward you sought you do not gain,
And find the hoped-for bread is but stone,
In that sad hour for grief, should you complain
Ah no! It matters not if shade or sun,
Or good or ill, your efforts shall attend;
In doing you have but your duty done
As best you knew—and should do to the end."
He eagerly devoured the words one by one, because he was looking for something to give him courage to go thru this terrible ordeal. He thought that this poem would do. It surely had been written for him in this very hour of trouble and realized with Job he must find his strength within himself and have courage, hope and faith.
He then read another little poem from the book; "Not in Vain" by Emily Dickinson:
"If I can stop one heart from breaking,
I shall not live in vain:
If I can ease one life the aching,
Or cool one pain,
Or help one fainting robin
Unto his nest again,
I shall not live in vain."
Robert felt that he had tried always to be kind and considerate and charitable towards others, and knew that he must go on regardless of what happened, and live his life hoping to find Marie. About this time, Robert, tired, hungry and worn out fell asleep. The next time that he remembered anything, he awoke on Monday morning with the sun streaming in thru the window of his hotel and realized that he had fallen asleep. The little book, "Poems That Have Helped Me," lay on the bed beside him. Because the sun was coming in the east window he knew that he must have slept thru some part of the night, and it was now morning. His first thought was of Marie, and of any news that might have come. Picking up the little book, the first thing that struck his eye was the poem, "Press On" by Park Benjamin:
"Press on! Surmount the rocky steps,
Climb boldly o'er the torrent's arch;
He fails alone who feebly creeps,
He wins who dares the hero's march.
Be thou a hero! Let thy might
Tramp on eternal snows its way,
And thru the ebon walls of night
Hew down a passage unto day.
Press on! If once and twice thy feet
Slip back and stumble, harder try;
From him who never dreads to meet
Danger and death they're sure to fly.
To coward ranks the bullet speeds,
While on their breasts who never quail,
Gleams, guardian of chivalric deeds,
Bright courage like a coat of mail.
Press on! If Fortune play thee false
To day, tomorrow she'll be true;
Whom now she sinks she now exalts,
Taking old gifts and granting new,
The wisdom of the present hour
Makes up the follies past and gone;
To weakness strength succeeds, and power
From frailty springs! Press on, press on!"
Robert hastily read this poem and found some consolation in it. He resolved that he would press on, and hastened down stairs to the hotel desk to inquire if any telegrams had been received for him, or if any long-distance call had come during the night when he had fallen asleep, but again he met with disappointment. There were no telegrams and there had been no 'phone calls.