 | Lays of Leisure Hours |  |
55
THOU BETTER KNOW'ST.
Thou better know'st my love for thee
Than I myself can know,
I only feel I can but be
Thine all, thine own, below!
Than I myself can know,
I only feel I can but be
Thine all, thine own, below!
I only feel I was but made
To admire and to adore;
How can that love be told or weighed,
That ever deepeneth more—
To admire and to adore;
How can that love be told or weighed,
That ever deepeneth more—
And least of all by those who feel
That Passion's power intense;
How can they to themselves reveal
That all-o'erwhelming Sense?
That Passion's power intense;
How can they to themselves reveal
That all-o'erwhelming Sense?
56
One Dream—one Feeling—and one Thought
Chain, clasp me, and entomb;
Thou—thou art all—and I am nought—
Love doth my life consume!
Chain, clasp me, and entomb;
Thou—thou art all—and I am nought—
Love doth my life consume!
Thou better know'st than I can know
My boundless love for thee;
Haply, some outward signs may show
The inward Idolatry!
My boundless love for thee;
Haply, some outward signs may show
The inward Idolatry!
So much is all within engrossed
By deep Devotion's zeal,
The feeling's self is almost lost,
I scarce can know I feel!
By deep Devotion's zeal,
The feeling's self is almost lost,
I scarce can know I feel!
Doth faultering word, doth speaking eye,
Doth varying brow express,
With tear, and blush, and Soul-sent sigh,
My Love's unknown excess?
Doth varying brow express,
With tear, and blush, and Soul-sent sigh,
My Love's unknown excess?
57
And yet such outward signs are weak,
And Image but a part,
And feebly show, and faintly speak
The Homage of the Heart!
And Image but a part,
And feebly show, and faintly speak
The Homage of the Heart!
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