Classic Poem

TO MARIE B — —

For thee was always my awakening thought,
For thee the prayer that soothed me ere I slept,
For thee the smiles that Hope but seldom brought,
For thee the many bitter tears I wept.

For thee my life I gladly would cast down,
And for thy love would pay Death's fatal price,
Thou my sweet consolation and my crown,
Thou my despair, my hope, my Paradise.

For thee, oh my unsullied, stainless goal,
I live to-day! and for one perfect kiss
From thy warm lips I would give forth my soul
And life in worlds hereafter and in this.

For thee, from sin I would not even shrink,
For thee, I would not tremble before death,
For thee I'd perish, if I once could sink
And die upon the perfume of thy breath.

Thou art my hope, my future, and my past,
Thou art my sweetest torture and delight,
Thou art my only love, the first, the last,
Thou art my radiant dawn, my starry night.

Spurn not my passion that will e'er abide,
Boundless and vast and constant as the sea,
But rather pity in thy conscious pride
A love more strong than Death itself, for thee.