 | Touches on The Harp of Nature |  |
51
HOPE.
One eve I lay, half dreaming, half awake,In the fair arms of my true mistress, Hope;
Who, seeing me my drowsy eyelids ope,
Asked what I most should like? then, for the sake
Of trying her, to see if she would take
Me at my word, I said, “To enjoy thee:”
Thereat she started, like a fawn, from me!
Then thought I to myself, tho' she thus break
Away, yet will she straight be back again:
She is a virgin chaste as unsunned snow,
And if we seldom reach her, not in vain
We follow; for to the mere chase we owe
All, nay, more than she'd give, could we detain
Her in our arms, for all hope more than they can know!
| Touches on The Harp of Nature | |