I. SHE came, long absent from my side, And absent from my dreams, she came, The earthly and the heavenly bride, In maiden beauty glorified: She looked upon me, angel-eyed: She called me by my name. II. But I, whose heart to meet her sprang And shook the fragile house of dreams, Stood, smitten with a guilty pang: In other groves and temples rang The songs that once for her I sang, By woods and faery streams. III. Her eyes had power to lift my head, And, timorous as a truant child, I met the sacred light they sbed, The light of heaven around her spread: She read my face; no word she said: I only saw she smiled. IV. "Canst thou forgive me, Angel mine," I cried; "that Love at last beguiled My heart to build a second shrine? See, still I kneel and weep at thine, But I am human, thou divine!" Still silently she smiled. V. "Dost undivided worship claim, To keep thine altar undefiled? Or must I bear thy tender blame, And in thy pardon feel my shame Whene'er I breathe another name? She looked at me, and smiled. VI. "Speak, speak!" and then my tears came fast, My troubled heart with doubt grew wild: "Will't vex the love, which still thou hast, To know that I have peace at last?" And from my dream the vision passed, And still, in passing, smiled. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...DESPAIR by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON STUDY FOR A GEOGRAPHICAL TRAIL; 4. NEW JERSEY by CLARENCE MAJOR CALIFORNIA CITY LANDSCAPE by CARL SANDBURG TO CERTAIN JOURNEYMEN by CARL SANDBURG TO W.P.: 1 by GEORGE SANTAYANA TO ELIZABETH, COUNTESS OF RUTLAND by BEN JONSON THE WIDOW'S MITE by FREDERICK LOCKER-LAMPSON HOW THE CUMBERLAND WENT DOWN [MARCH 8, 1862] by SILAS WEIR MITCHELL |