 | Coffin's Poems with Ajax' Ordeals |  |
Love and Fear Contest.
They say that in each human heart,
There is an unseen battle-field,
'Pon which two fighting forces meet,
And neither one consents to yield.
There is an unseen battle-field,
'Pon which two fighting forces meet,
And neither one consents to yield.
93
I don't know who those forces are,
There's love and hatred, hope and fear,
There's laughter with his great bazaar,
There's sorrow with its bitter tear.
There's love and hatred, hope and fear,
There's laughter with his great bazaar,
There's sorrow with its bitter tear.
Once love stepped out upon my breast,
And gazing at the vacant skies;
Had thoughts of one it thinks the best,
And this is what, aloud it cried:—
And gazing at the vacant skies;
Had thoughts of one it thinks the best,
And this is what, aloud it cried:—
Just thoughts of her is music sweet,
Dear A. V.: Oh be still my heart;
And darling with what joy it speaks,
Oh, how it makes my senses start.
Dear A. V.: Oh be still my heart;
And darling with what joy it speaks,
Oh, how it makes my senses start.
I must confess it rolls along,
In scintillating streams of bliss;
Until it mingles with my song—
And thrills me like a pulsing kiss.
In scintillating streams of bliss;
Until it mingles with my song—
And thrills me like a pulsing kiss.
Then fear came forth upon the scene,
And said “beware of passive bliss;
For things are not just what they seem,”
Then love replied in words like this:
And said “beware of passive bliss;
For things are not just what they seem,”
Then love replied in words like this:
I recognize the Christian plan,
This earthly life is built upon;
It gives a wife to ev'ry man,
And I'll be satisfied with one.
This earthly life is built upon;
It gives a wife to ev'ry man,
And I'll be satisfied with one.
94
Yes surely I'll be satisfied,
If I can get the one I love;
The one who's taken away my heart,
And carries it where'er she roves.
If I can get the one I love;
The one who's taken away my heart,
And carries it where'er she roves.
But fear, I trembled at one thought;
If she consents to be my bride,
What, oh what, if I can't supply
The things to make her satisfied.
If she consents to be my bride,
What, oh what, if I can't supply
The things to make her satisfied.
Could I be happy? No, not I,
I'd rather be adrift at sea,
With the storms around me raging,
And no one there to care for me.
I'd rather be adrift at sea,
With the storms around me raging,
And no one there to care for me.
But I will do the best I can,
The noblest precepts to obey;
But sometimes tides of fierce desires,
Around my heart doth surge and sway.
The noblest precepts to obey;
But sometimes tides of fierce desires,
Around my heart doth surge and sway.
I must restrain the thoughts I feel,
Now glowing in my fervent breast;
They're not conducive to my weal,
Simply a love and fear contest.
Now glowing in my fervent breast;
They're not conducive to my weal,
Simply a love and fear contest.
| Coffin's Poems with Ajax' Ordeals | |