We , who have loved, and from our Faith have faltered,
And made of love a desecrated thing,
How can we bear to face the God we've altered?
Like some great eagle on a broken wing,
No more our love can rise to heights transcendent
Where glows the light that ne'er on sea or shore
Has shone except for those whose love resplendent
Has lent them wings of fire on which to soar.
From that dim region which our souls inherit
We bore the promise of a pristine flame;
Alas! that we, who knew the holy Spirit,

She kissed His feet!
Those stained feet
Her tears had purified,
And fresh and clean and sweet,
With raven tresses dried.

She kissed His feet!
Her lips were now
As stainless as the dew,
Or star-flakes of the snow,
Or heaven's unsullied blue.

She kissed His feet!
Her Saviour's feet;
Least tribute for her cure;
To us, her message sweet:
" Love maketh all things pure. "

Oh , thou that lovest! do not deem thou hast no rival nigh,
To interrupt thy visions, or cloud thy golden sky;
And though Hope's syren voice beguile, believe not all her song,
Nor deem the joys enduring that to the lay belong.
Thou hast a rival, lover, however blest thou art,
How dear soe'er the object be, that kindles up thy heart;
There may be bloom upon her cheek, light on her forehead fair,
And balm upon her rich red lip, as sweet, as roses are;
And kindness in her lustrous eyes on thee alone bestowed,

I.

IN ABSENCE .

My love for thee is like a winged seed
Blown from the heart of thy rare beauty's flower,
And deftly guided by some breezy power
To fall and rest, where I should never heed,
In deepest caves of memory. There, indeed,
With virtue rife of many a sunny hour, —
Ev'n making cold neglect and darkness dower
Its roots with life, — swiftly it 'gan to breed,

With each new day, new cares will wait for thee,
Trials and heart-aches; yet do thou not fear,
But take them lovingly, and, weaving them
Into a crown of thorns, wear and let be
For ever on thy head, a diadem,
More royal than gold, the dearest token here
Of that sad voice that whispers, " Follow Me."

No emblem that glorifies nature
Could image your soul and its grace,
So the Lord of eternal beauty
Has moulded the loveliest face

That ever envisaged the splendour
Of joy in a maiden's eyes —
Your heavenly face, Beloved,
Love's wonder-word from the skies.

When the leaves are falling, Dearest,
And you seek the quiet mound
Where I slumber, you will find it
With a wealth of blossoms crowned.

Gather, then, for thy bright tresses
Those that from my heart have sprung;
They're the love-thoughts that I spoke not,
And the songs I left unsung.

Wilt thou, because thy Florio loves,
Forsake the giddy glitt'ring throng,
With him to dwell in peaceful groves,
With him to hear the shepherd's song?

Can'st thou, without a sigh, resign
The homage by thy charms inspir'd?
To one, oh! say, can'st thou confine
What oft so many have admir'd?

Sweet maid! oh! bless'd shall be our love,
Till time shall bid it cease to flow;
With thee shall ev'ry moment prove
A little heaven form'd below!

Love once wandered on the shore
Where these lonely mountains stand,
And the surf for evermore
Whitens down the waste of sand.

Here are footprints! see, he went
By the sea's edge in his play;
Here perchance his bow was bent,
And his target was the spray.

There he stooped and wrote his name —
Straggling letters by the tide —
And when sunset bursts in flame
Over shore and mountain-side,

Brightly will the letters glow,
Golden will those footprints be,
Made by young Love long ago
As he wandered by the sea.

I MET once, in a country lane,
A little cripple, pale and thin,
Who from my presence sought again
The shadows she had hidden in.

Her wasted cheeks the sunset skies
Had hallowed with their fading glow;
And in her large and lustrous eyes
There dwelt a child's unuttered woe.

She crept into the autumn wood,
The parted bushes closed behind;
Poor little heart, I understood
The shameless shame that filled her mind.

I understood, and loved her well
For one sad face I loved of yore, —