THEY owned their passion without shame or fear, And every household duty counted less Than that one spiritual bond, and men severe Said they should sorrow for their wilfulness. And truth the world went ill with them: he knew That he had broken up her maiden life, Where only pleasures and affections grew, And sowed it thick with labour, pain, and strife. What her unpractis'd weakness was to her The presence of her suffering was to him; Thus at Love's feast did Misery minister, And fill their cups together to the brim. They asked their kind for hope, but there was none, Till Death came by and gave them that and more; Then men lamented, -- but the earth rolls on, And lovers love and perish as before. |