University of Virginia Library

New Year's Greeting.

To a loved one.
As this is the first of the year,
And I am all alone,
I thought I'd try to draw me near
To thee, my dear, my own.
Yes, I'm alone, and don't you know
I do not like to speak,
Yet I will, as 'tis fitting now,
My wanted silence break.

96

There is a love that in my soul
Burns silent and alone;
It kindles flames around my heart,
You know that heart's your own.
The dearest idol I have known
Is my dear Lord above;
The next one which I long to own
Is you, my precious love.
I call myself both chaste and pure,
And free from passions low;
Hence I know what I say is true,
For conscience speaketh so.
Thy Christian spirit I do prize,
For this I've surely seen;
For this thou'rt precious to my eyes
As gold and jewels sheen.
Thy sweet face I esteem indeed,
So modest and so kind;
Its presence I forever need,
May I call that face mine?
I've never written such a poem
To mortal girl before,
Because I've never loved a woman
As the one I now adore.

97

During the year that's past and gone,
I've launched in a new field;
That tender chord broke with a song,
And now to love I yield.
As I review my past year's work,
Some things I've left undone;
And yet I feel that I have gained,
If your confidence I've won.
I hope that I have not done that
To bring thee any pain;
For all I've done was done in love,
Dear, is my love in vain?
Throughout the year of ninety—
If lovers still we be;
Let's have that love that warms both hearts
And let our minds be free.