AN HOUR by HENRY VAN DYKE

YOU only promised me a single hour:
But in that hour I journeyed through a year
Of life: the joy of finding you, -- the fear
Of losing you again, -- the sense of power
To make you all my own, -- the sudden shower
Of tears that came because you were more dear
Than words could ever tell you, -- then, -- the clear
Soft rapture when I plucked love's crimson flower.

An hour, -- a year, -- I felt your bosom rise
And fall with mystic tides, and saw the gleam
Of undiscovered stars within your eyes, --
A year, -- an hour? I knew not, for the stream
Of love had carried me to Paradise,
Where all the forms of Time are like a dream.

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!

Other Poems of Interest...