University of Virginia Library


131

IX. BENEATH LOFTIER STARS.

Yes! now indeed we meet 'neath loftier stars.
The high airs soothe us, and the silence deep
Seems part of that eternal watch we keep:
Now, nought our reunited passion mars.
Like marvellous and fragrant summer sleep
A sense of life steals over us, and brings
New wondrous visions cradled on its wings:
We stand, victorious, on a nobler steep!
Before us spreads the wonderful wide view,
With ocean in the distance, dim and blue,—
And love, with white and soft plumes, everywhere:
We breathe, with ecstasy beyond all speech,
In this diviner mutual height we reach,
The unknown immortal soul-caressing air.