 | Impressions of Italy and Other Poems |  |
132
TRUE LOVE.
And dost thou ask me to express my love?
Alas! it soars my struggling powers above!
But since thou will'st it, fondly will I seek
That more than feeling—more than life—to speak.
Alas! it soars my struggling powers above!
But since thou will'st it, fondly will I seek
That more than feeling—more than life—to speak.
In thy prosperity—strict watch and ward
Still will I keep, thy precious weal to guard;
And in this anxious service—but in this
Place all my worldly, all my wished-for bliss!
Still will I keep, thy precious weal to guard;
And in this anxious service—but in this
Place all my worldly, all my wished-for bliss!
In thine adversity—if—fearful thought—
Life's harsher lessons thou must yet be taught;
Closelier will I cling round thee,—evermore—
As the ivy round the oak when storm-blasts roar.
Life's harsher lessons thou must yet be taught;
Closelier will I cling round thee,—evermore—
As the ivy round the oak when storm-blasts roar.
133
If this ungrateful world should thee desert,
Since ah! beware, 'tis hollow at the heart;
I will make up for all the Love thou hast lost,
And in thy worst distress adore thee most.
Since ah! beware, 'tis hollow at the heart;
I will make up for all the Love thou hast lost,
And in thy worst distress adore thee most.
I'll doat on thee when All beside deny—
When All forsake thee—yet will I not fly—
When All frown on thee—I will fondlier smile,
And more respect thee when the rest revile.
When All forsake thee—yet will I not fly—
When All frown on thee—I will fondlier smile,
And more respect thee when the rest revile.
Thro' gloom, thro' grief, thro' scorn, reproach, neglect,
I will more follow thee—and more affect;
I will be All in truth that others seem—
Why!—this is Love—the rest's an idle dream!
I will more follow thee—and more affect;
I will be All in truth that others seem—
Why!—this is Love—the rest's an idle dream!
| Impressions of Italy and Other Poems | |