BRIDE-NIGHT.
[_]
(Wagner's Tristan und Isolde, act ii. sc. 2.)
SWEET summer, if thy roses knew the song
The linnet sang in that dear dream of old,
Flooding the night with ripples of song-gold,
What while two lovers did their bliss prolong,
They would have garnered it from earthly wrong
Within their golden hearts, folded it up
Deep in the scented purple of their cup,
Against the harsh world's griefs and the sad throng
Of love-destroying cares; and holding so
Within their hearts that essence of all bliss,
They would have felt its magic pierce and glow
Athwart their veins, till, with the fire of this,
All hue had left them for that lovely woe,
As lovers pale upon a lingering kiss.