JULIA C. R. DORR. row morn Shall fade in her soft hair's golden light. But Philip came to the open door: Like the heart of a wild-rose glowed her cheek, And they wandered off through the garden paths So blest that they did not care to speak. I wonder how it seems to be loved: To know you are fair in some one's eyes; That upon some one your beauty dawns Every day as a new surprise; To know, that, whether you weep or smile, Whether your mood be grave or Marion stooped one day to kiss A beggar's babe with a tender grace; While some sweet thought, like a prophecy, Looked from her pure Madonna face. I wonder what it must be to think To-morrow will be your weddingAnd you, in the radiant sunset glow day, Down fragrant flowery paths will stray, As Marion does this blessed night, With Philip, lost in a blissful dream. Can she feel his heart through the silence beat? Does he see her eyes in the starlight gleam? Questioning thus, my days go on; But never an answer comes to me: All love's mysteries, sweet as strange, Sealed away from my life must be. Yet still I dream, O heart of mine! Of a beautiful city that lies afar; And there, some time, I shall drop the mask, And be shapely and fair as others are. AT THE LAST. WILL the day ever come, I wonder, When I shall be glad to know That my hands will be folded under The next white fall of the snow? To know that when next the clover Wooeth the wandering bee, Its crimson tide will drift over All that is left of me? Shall I ever be tired of living, And be glad to go to my rest, With a cool and fragrant lily Asleep on my silent breast? Yet the love I gave him was not like that I give to-day to my other boys, Who have grown beside me, and turned to me In all their griefs and in all their joys. Do you think he knows it? I wonder much If the dead are passionless, cold and dumb; If into the calm of the deathless years No thrill of a human love may come! Perhaps sometimes from the upper air He has seen me walk with his brothers three; Or felt in the tender twilight hour The breath of the kisses they gave to me! Over his birthright, lost so soon, Perhaps he has sighed as the swift years flew; O child of my heart! you shall find somewhere "Tease not!" we mothers to our children say, "Our wiser love will grant whate'er is best." Shall we, Thy children, run to Thee alway, Begging for this and that in wild unrest? I dare not clamor at the heavenly gate, Lest I should lose the high, sweet strains within; O, Love Divine! I can but stand and wait Till Perfect Wisdom bids me enter in! FIVE. "BUT a week is so long!" he said, With a toss of his curly head. "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven! Seven whole days! Why, in six you know (You said it yourself,- you told me so) The great God up in heaven The love that on earth you never Made all the earth and the seas and knew! THOU KNOWEST. THOU knowest, O my Father! Why should I Weary high heaven with restless prayers and tears! Thou knowest all! My heart's unuttered cry Hath soared beyond the stars and reached Thine ears. Thou knowest,-ah, Thou knowest! O, loving God, to tell Thee o'er And with persistent iteration plead As one who crieth at some closed door? The trees and the birds and the but skies, A man must labor, a man must Ah, well! As the swift years come choose, and go, It will not be long ere I shall lie Somewhere under a bit of turf, With my pale hands folded quietly. And then some one who has loved me well, Perhaps the one who has loved me best, Will say of me as I said of her, "She has been just so many years at rest," Then turn to the living loves again, To the busy life, without, within, And the day will go on from dawn to dusk, Even as if I had never been! Dear hearts! dear hearts! It must still be so! The roses will bloom, and the stars will shine, And the soft green grass creep still and slow, Sometime over a grave of mine, And over the grave in your hearts as well! Ye cannot hinder it if ye would; And I,-ah! I shall be wiser then,I would not hinder it if I could! |