Chips, fragments and vestiges by Gail Hamilton collected and arranged by H. Augusta Dodge |
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POPPING THE QUESTION |
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 | Chips, fragments and vestiges by Gail Hamilton |  |
119
POPPING THE QUESTION
Under the broad spreading buttonwood tree
We sat—my love and I.
In green and gold the Earth lay bathed,
In purple and gold the sky.
O matchless sheen of a fairy queen!
O rarer than Tyrian dye!
We sat—my love and I.
In green and gold the Earth lay bathed,
In purple and gold the sky.
O matchless sheen of a fairy queen!
O rarer than Tyrian dye!
But dim was the splendor of Earth and Heaven
And pale and cold to see,
For the beauty breathing by my side
Under the buttonwood tree—
So I gazed on the grace of her dimpled face,
But she—gazed never at me.
And pale and cold to see,
For the beauty breathing by my side
Under the buttonwood tree—
So I gazed on the grace of her dimpled face,
But she—gazed never at me.
Measured words of love or trust
Never my lips had spoken,
But could she not gauge with her woman's eye
The depth of a silent token?
But if it be so I shall never know;
This silence must be broken.
Never my lips had spoken,
But could she not gauge with her woman's eye
The depth of a silent token?
But if it be so I shall never know;
This silence must be broken.
And my heart grew faint with ecstatic pain
That was neither joy nor fear,
And an eager impulse leaped into life
My coming fate to hear—
The marriage bell or the funeral knell,
It shall be now and here!
That was neither joy nor fear,
And an eager impulse leaped into life
My coming fate to hear—
The marriage bell or the funeral knell,
It shall be now and here!
120
Then her quiet hands I grasped in mine
With a fierce and sudden start,
I pressed them against my throbbing brow,
Her heart to my throbbing heart,
And I said, “My love, by the angels above,
Thus, thus, we will never part!”
With a fierce and sudden start,
I pressed them against my throbbing brow,
Her heart to my throbbing heart,
And I said, “My love, by the angels above,
Thus, thus, we will never part!”
A dove of peace to my baffled life
An angel taking rest
One moment whose memory never shall fade,
She lay on my eager breast;
Then I loosèd hold of my blissful fold
And waited for her behest.
An angel taking rest
One moment whose memory never shall fade,
She lay on my eager breast;
Then I loosèd hold of my blissful fold
And waited for her behest.
I could feel the shock of her startled soul
Surprised at its secret shrine,
By the sudden flood of light inpoured
From this passionate heart of mine.
Thrice happy hour that gave such power,
Such dream of bliss divine.
Surprised at its secret shrine,
By the sudden flood of light inpoured
From this passionate heart of mine.
Thrice happy hour that gave such power,
Such dream of bliss divine.
I waited in tremulous silence the breath
That should bring to my listening ear
The words for which I had longed and prayed,
But ever despaired to hear.
And I drew her face in a wild embrace,
Nearer again and near.
That should bring to my listening ear
The words for which I had longed and prayed,
But ever despaired to hear.
And I drew her face in a wild embrace,
Nearer again and near.
121
The white lips moved—the dear head drooped,
Under mine the sweet eyes fell.
“Dost thou love me, darling? Speak, speak thy love,
Thou knowest mine own full well.”
A tear and a smile strove together the while,
“I do, but I cannot tell.”
Under mine the sweet eyes fell.
“Dost thou love me, darling? Speak, speak thy love,
Thou knowest mine own full well.”
A tear and a smile strove together the while,
“I do, but I cannot tell.”
Sept. 14, 1856.
| Chips, fragments and vestiges by Gail Hamilton | |