No tear that falls beneath it; Mine oath of love can swear thee From no ill that comes near thee, And thou diest while I breathe it, And I-I can but die! May God love thee, my beloved,-may GOD love thee! LESSONS FROM THE GORSE. "To win the secret of a weed's plain heart." Lowell. I. MOUNTAIN gorses, ever-golden, Howsoever pricked and holden Like your thorny blooms, and so Trodden on by rain and snow, Up the hill-side of this life, as bleak as where ye grow ? II. Mountain blossoms, shining blossoms, Do ye teach us to be glad When no summer can be had, Blooming in our inward bosoms? Ye, whom God preserveth still, Tokens to the wintry earth that Beauty liveth still! III. Mountain gorses, do ye teach us From that academic chair Canopied with azure air, That the wisest word man reaches Is the humblest he can speak ? Ye, who live on mountain peak, Yet live low along the ground, beside the grasses meek! IV. Mountain gorses, since Linnæus For your beauty thanking God,— For your teaching, ye should see us Bowing in prostration new! Whence arisen,-if one or two Drops be on our cheeks-O world, they are not tears but dew. THE LADY'S YES. I. 'YES,' I answered you last night; 'No,' this morning, sir, I say: Colours seen by candle-light Will not look the same by day. II. When the viols played their best, III. Call me false or call me free, Vow, whatever light may shine,— No man on your face shall see Any grief for change on mine. IV. Yet the sin is on us both; Time to dance is not to woo; Wooing light makes fickle troth, Scorn of me recoils on you. V. Learn to win a lady's faith Nobly, as the thing is high, Bravely, as for life and death, With a loyal gravity. VI. Lead her from the festive boards, Point her to the starry skies; Guard her, by your truthful words, Pure from courtship's flatteries. VII. By your truth she shall be true, SHALL be Yes for evermore. |