 | Forest buds, from the woods of Maine |  |
139
BOTH SIDES OF THE QUESTION.
THE SIDE APPARENT.
Ah, dearest, I have loved you long and well,
Your lovely face to me perfection seems,
Your gentle voice, a musical underswell,
Mingles all sweetly with my tide of dreams;—
Say, will you make my home a paradise?
Be Eve within my Eden, dearest one?
Should sorrow come, I'll kiss from your soft eyes
The tears, and grieve because you grieve, my own!
Our lives shall pass like the sweet days of June,
Full of bright blossoms and bird-melody,
Love in our hearts shall sing its sweetest tune,
And every throb repeat its harmony!
Yes, dearest! be my own, my worshipped wife!
Your love shall be my bliss,—your happiness, my life!
Your lovely face to me perfection seems,
Your gentle voice, a musical underswell,
Mingles all sweetly with my tide of dreams;—
Say, will you make my home a paradise?
Be Eve within my Eden, dearest one?
Should sorrow come, I'll kiss from your soft eyes
The tears, and grieve because you grieve, my own!
Our lives shall pass like the sweet days of June,
Full of bright blossoms and bird-melody,
Love in our hearts shall sing its sweetest tune,
And every throb repeat its harmony!
Yes, dearest! be my own, my worshipped wife!
Your love shall be my bliss,—your happiness, my life!
140
THE SIDE TRANSPARENT.
Dearest! resign this life of careless joy
For the stern duties of a married life!
Leave books and songs for practical employ,
And be, in all respects, a pattern wife!
Consent your every girlish taste to doff,—
To practice sweeping floors and making pies,
To sew on buttons ere their coming off,
And come what may, meet me with smiling eyes!
And more,—agree to yield up every friend,
Excepting such as I shall signify,
To stay indoors from year's end to year's end,
And never think yourself abused thereby!
In short, my dear, by uttering one sweet word,
Make me, your humblest slave, your master and your lord!
For the stern duties of a married life!
Leave books and songs for practical employ,
And be, in all respects, a pattern wife!
Consent your every girlish taste to doff,—
To practice sweeping floors and making pies,
To sew on buttons ere their coming off,
And come what may, meet me with smiling eyes!
And more,—agree to yield up every friend,
Excepting such as I shall signify,
To stay indoors from year's end to year's end,
And never think yourself abused thereby!
In short, my dear, by uttering one sweet word,
Make me, your humblest slave, your master and your lord!
| Forest buds, from the woods of Maine | |