 | Poems of home and travel |  |
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THE VOICE OF THE FIRE.
They sat by the hearth-stone, broad and bright,
Whose burning brands threw a cheerful light
On the frosty calm of the winter's night.
Whose burning brands threw a cheerful light
On the frosty calm of the winter's night.
Her tresses soft to his lips were pressed,
Her head was laid on his happy breast,
And a tender silence their love expressed:
Her head was laid on his happy breast,
And a tender silence their love expressed:
And ever a gentle murmur came
From the clear, bright heart of the wavering flame,
Like the first sweet call of the dearest name.
From the clear, bright heart of the wavering flame,
Like the first sweet call of the dearest name.
He kissed on the warm, white brow,
And told her in fonder words, the vow
He had whispered under the moonlit bough;
And told her in fonder words, the vow
He had whispered under the moonlit bough;
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And o'er them a steady radiance came
From the shining heart of the mounting flame,
Like the love that burneth forever the same.
From the shining heart of the mounting flame,
Like the love that burneth forever the same.
The maiden smiled through her soft brown eyes,
As he led her forward to sunnier skies,
Whose cloudless light on the Future lies;
As he led her forward to sunnier skies,
Whose cloudless light on the Future lies;
And a moment paused the laughing flame,
And it listened a while, and then there came
A cheery burst from its sparkling frame.
And it listened a while, and then there came
A cheery burst from its sparkling frame.
In the home he pictured, the home so blest,
Their souls should sit in a calmer rest,
Like woodland birds in their shaded nest.
Their souls should sit in a calmer rest,
Like woodland birds in their shaded nest.
There slept, foreshadowed, the bliss to be,
When a tenderer life that home should see,
In the wingless cherub that climbed his knee.
When a tenderer life that home should see,
In the wingless cherub that climbed his knee.
And the flame went on with its flickering song,
And beckoned and laughed to the lovers long,
Who sat in its radiance, red and strong.
And beckoned and laughed to the lovers long,
Who sat in its radiance, red and strong.
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And ever its burden seemed to be
The mingled voices of household glee,
Like the gush of winds in a mountain tree.
The mingled voices of household glee,
Like the gush of winds in a mountain tree.
Then broke and fell a glimmering brand
To the cold, dead ashes it fed and fanned,
And its last gleam waved like a warning hand.
To the cold, dead ashes it fed and fanned,
And its last gleam waved like a warning hand.
They did not speak, for there came a fear,
As a spirit of evil were wandering near,
A menace of danger to something dear.
As a spirit of evil were wandering near,
A menace of danger to something dear.
And, hovering over its smouldering bed,
A feebler pinion the flame outspread,
And a paler light through the chamber shed.
A feebler pinion the flame outspread,
And a paler light through the chamber shed.
He clasped the maid in a fonder thrall:
“We shall love each other, whatever befall,
And the Merciful Father is over all”
“We shall love each other, whatever befall,
And the Merciful Father is over all”
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