THE LETTERS. 1. STILL on the tower stood the vane, A black yew gloom'd the stagnant air, I peer'd athwart the chancel pane And saw the altar cold and bare. A clog of lead was round my feet, A band of pain across my brow; 'Cold altar, Heaven and earth shall meet Before you hear my marriage vow.' K 2. I turn'd and humm'd a bitter song That mock'd the wholesome human heart, And then we met in wrath and wrong, We met, but only meant to part. Full cold my greeting was and dry; She faintly smiled, she hardly moved; I saw with half-unconscious eye She wore the colours I approved. 3. She took the little ivory chest, With half a sigh she turn'd the key, Then raised her head with lips comprest, And gave the trinkets and the rings, My gifts, when gifts of mine could please; As looks a father on the things Of his dead son, I look'd on these. 4. She told me all her friends had said; I raged against the public liar; She talk'd as if her love were dead, But in my words were seeds of fire. 'No more of love; your sex is known: I never will be twice deceived. Henceforth I trust the man alone, The woman cannot be believed. 5. 'Thro' slander, meanest spawn of Hell (And women's slander is the worst), And you, whom once I loved so well, Thro' you, my life will be accurst.' I spoke with heart, and heat and force, I shook her breast with vague alarms Like torrents from a mountain source We rush'd into each other's arms. |