Two hearts made one by Love that cannot die
  Whatever life may bring, shall never part;
  In life they’re one, and e’en in death one heart! 
  Are we not such, Beloved, thou and I? 
  Ah, then, why mourn that ’neath another sky,
  Far from these longing arms and eyes thou art? 
  I clasp thee still, and lo! thy lips impart
  New life to me as in the days gone by.

  I feel thy heart in mine,—­our hopes and fears,
  Like music’s wedded notes, together flow;
  Our sighs the same, the same our smiles and tears,—­
  The selfsame bliss is ours, the selfsame woe. 
  For Love no weary leagues, no ling’ring years—­
  Two hearts in one nor time nor distance know.

XXIII

YEARNING

  The night is sweet:  thy breath is in the air,
  I feel it on my face; thy tender eyes
  Look love upon me from yon starry skies! 
  They bring to me, those glancing moonbeams fair,
  The shine and ripple of thy silken hair. 
  And in the silent whispers and the sighs
  That from the throbbing heart of Nature rise,
  I hear thee, feel thee,—­own thy presence there.

  Ah, fond deceit!—­too soon the heart, unblest,
  Unsated, turns from these illusive charms
  Back to the haunting dream of heav’n once known: 
  It pines for those soft eyes, that throbbing breast,
  Those sweet life-giving lips, those circling arms—­
  The breath, the touch, the warmth of Beauty flown.

XXIV

LOVE’S GIFT

  I’m far from thee, yet oft our spirits meet: 
  We share the longings of each other’s breast,
  And all our joys and sorrows are confest
  As though our lips did love’s fond tale repeat. 
  Ah! then thine eyes send forth, mine eyes to greet,
  Glances in which thy whole soul is exprest,
  Then, like some song-bird flutt’ring in its nest,
  I hear thy heart in pulsing cadence beat.

  I know its music and I know its thought;
  My heart to it th’ unuttered words supplies;
  I listen to the thrilling melody
  Until my soul its subtle tone hath caught. 
  And then I take it as Love’s gift,—­it lies
  Imprisoned in my own weak poesy!

EPILOGUE

  From out the golden dawn of vanished years
  She glides into my dreams, a form divine
  Of light and love, to soothe the thoughts that pine
  For what has been, to stem the tide of tears
  That inward flows upon the heart and sears
  Its inmost core.  Her countenance benign,
  Where Love and Pity’s chastened graces shine,
  Reflects the hallowed light of other spheres.

  Then to my anguished soul, with care outworn,
  Comes, like a strain on aerial wings upborne,
  This message from her soul:—­’Bid sorrow cease;
  Love dies not;—­’tis th’ immortal life above. 
  And chastened souls, that win eternal peace
  Through earthly suff’ring, know that Heaven is Love!’