She flies not, frowns not, though he pleads his cause;

Nor yet-nor yet her hand from his withdraws;

But by some secret Power surprised, subdued,

(Ah how resist? Nor would she if she could.)

Falls on his neck as half unconscious where,

Glad to conceal her tears, her blushes there.

Then come those full confidings of the past;

All sunshine now where all was overcast.

Then do they wander till the day is gone,

Lost in each other; and, when Night steals on, Covering them round, how sweet her accents are! Oh when she turns and speaks, her voice is far,

Far above singing!-But soon nothing stirs

To break the silence-Joy like his, like hers, Deals not in words; and now the shadows close, Now in the glimmering, dying light she grows Less and less earthly! As departs the day

All that was mortal seems to melt away,

Till, like a gift resumed as soon as given,

She fades at last into a Spirit from Heaven!

Then are they blest indeed; and swift the hours

Till her young Sisters wreathe her hair in flowers,

Kindling her beauty-while, unseen, the least

Twitches her robe, then runs behind the rest,

Known by her laugh that will not be suppressed.

Then before All they stand-the holy vow

And ring of gold, no fond illusions now,

Bind her as his. Across the threshold led,
And every tear kissed off as soon as shed,

His house she enters, there to be a light

Shining within, when all without is night;
A guardian-angel o'er his life presiding,
Doubling his pleasures, and his cares dividing!
How oft her eyes read his; her gentle mind
To all his wishes, all his thoughts inclined;
Still subject-ever on the watch to borrow

Mirth of his mirth, and sorrow of his sorrow.

The soul of music slumbers in the shell,

Till waked and kindled by the master's spell;

D

And feeling hearts-touch them but rightly-pour

A thousand melodies unheard before!

Nor many moons o'er hill and valley rise

Ere to the gate with nymph-like step she flies, And their first-born holds forth, their darling boy, With smiles how sweet, how full of love and joy, To meet him coming; theirs through every year

Pure transports, such as each to each endear!

And laughing eyes and laughing, voices fill

Their halls with gladness. She, when all are still,

Comes and undraws the curtain as they lie, ́

In sleep how beautiful! He, when the sky

Gleams, and the wood sends up its harmony,

When, gathering round his bed, they climb to share

His kisses, and with gentle violence there

Break in upon a dream not half so fair,

Up to the hill-top leads their little feet;

Or by the forest-lodge, perchance to meet

The stag-herd on its march, perchance to hear
The otter rustling in the sedgy mere;

Or to the echo near the Abbot's tree,

That gave him back his words of pleasantry

When the House stood, no merrier man than he!

And, as they wander with a keen delight,

If but a leveret catch their quicker sight

Down a green alley, or a squirrel then

Climb the gnarled oak, and look and climb again,