University of Virginia Library


226

XXXIV. PRESENCE.

To-day, continually—at least, in thought—
Have you been my companion”—O, that thought
Could conjure what is real from the air,
And place it, warm and living, in our arms!
Then had we clasp'd each other; and repair
Made to the shadows of the woods around,
And revell'd in the intermingling charms
Of Nature's outward, Love's internal glory!
Yet there's a spiritual presence—in a sound,
A bird, a flower, a leaf, poetic story—
Of those with whom we've joy'd in them and love
In the sweet past: there glows a memory
Richly round all things, when the sacred dove
Of Thought sits on the heart, brooding eternally.