When shall I master this anxiety
Which seizes me when thou, dear friend, art nigh?
I seek thy presence even as a spy,
Hoping yet fearing to discover thee.
How can I fear 'fore one I fain would see
Folded in my embrace? Oh tell me why
So swift my blood is checked, and what can tie
My spirit as with bonds of slavery.

Is it the dread lest thou thine heart shouldst close,
Lest on the crags of thy false pride I steer,
Ever avowed the foremost of love's foes?
Is it the godliness of bonds so dear,
Since love, as before God, for ever shows
Before its object reverence and fear?