 | Denzil place |  |
“I swear if any child were born of you,”
He said to her one balmy afternoon,
“I would not press you, Constance, but you leave—
“In leaving home for me, what do you leave?
“A kind old man, but he can be replaced—
“You cannot even know the pleasant pang
“A bride may feel, who leaves the loving breast
“Of her fond mother for the folding arms
“Of her Belov'd;—you are not kith or kin,
“But mated by mischance, who might have been
“Father and daughter, child and grandfather—
“The long, dull years that seem your married days,
“To him are but a little speck of time—
“A fleeting moment in an old man's life
“Who liv'd and lov'd long, long ere you were born!
“Ah, he may miss you, as those fathers miss
“Or as those grandfathers, a two years' child,
“But think of what we are! Friends—friends till death,
“And lovers—loving till this heart of mine
“Ceases to beat, and husband, dear, and wife,
“If you will let me call you by that name
“And wear my ring upon your little hand.
“I say again, if round about your knees
“Were rosy faces grouped, and tiny hands
“And piping voices, ever and anon
“Clasping and calling you to stay at home,
“I had been base indeed to bid you stray
“And leave for me those sunny little heads
“But now—!”
He said to her one balmy afternoon,
“I would not press you, Constance, but you leave—
“In leaving home for me, what do you leave?
“A kind old man, but he can be replaced—
“You cannot even know the pleasant pang
“A bride may feel, who leaves the loving breast
“Of her fond mother for the folding arms
199
“But mated by mischance, who might have been
“Father and daughter, child and grandfather—
“The long, dull years that seem your married days,
“To him are but a little speck of time—
“A fleeting moment in an old man's life
“Who liv'd and lov'd long, long ere you were born!
“Ah, he may miss you, as those fathers miss
“Or as those grandfathers, a two years' child,
“But think of what we are! Friends—friends till death,
“And lovers—loving till this heart of mine
“Ceases to beat, and husband, dear, and wife,
“If you will let me call you by that name
“And wear my ring upon your little hand.
“I say again, if round about your knees
“Were rosy faces grouped, and tiny hands
“And piping voices, ever and anon
“Clasping and calling you to stay at home,
“I had been base indeed to bid you stray
“And leave for me those sunny little heads
“But now—!”
| Denzil place | |