Lyrics of the heart With other poems. By Alaric A. Watts. With forty-one engravings on steel |
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WE PLIGHTED VOWS TOGETHER! |
 | Lyrics of the heart |  |
66
WE PLIGHTED VOWS TOGETHER!
We plighted vows together,
When all Nature 'round looked gay,
In the bright and genial weather
Of the merry month of May;
When the buds had opened into flower,
The cuckoo taken wing,
To herald, with her voice of power,
To other lands the Spring!
When all Nature 'round looked gay,
In the bright and genial weather
Of the merry month of May;
When the buds had opened into flower,
The cuckoo taken wing,
To herald, with her voice of power,
To other lands the Spring!
We plighted vows together,
When earth wore her richest green,
On the birch-tree's silvery feather
When a deeper shade was seen;
The laburnum, spendthrift of our bower,
Its gold had dropped around;
And the hawthorn blossom's snowy shower
Was whitening all the ground!
When earth wore her richest green,
On the birch-tree's silvery feather
When a deeper shade was seen;
The laburnum, spendthrift of our bower,
Its gold had dropped around;
And the hawthorn blossom's snowy shower
Was whitening all the ground!
67
When we plighted vows together,
May was melting into June,
And the smiles of that bright weather
Taught the brook a lower tune;
Whose music though it soothed mine ear,
And bade my soul rejoice,
Was not so silver-sweet and clear
As the heart-tones of thy voice!
May was melting into June,
And the smiles of that bright weather
Taught the brook a lower tune;
Whose music though it soothed mine ear,
And bade my soul rejoice,
Was not so silver-sweet and clear
As the heart-tones of thy voice!
When we plighted vows together,
Scarce a sound beside was heard,
Through the far and cloudless ether,
Save the carol of a bird;
Or the honey-bee's glad humming,
As she bore her sweets away;
For she knew 'twas summer coming,
And like all the world was gay!
Scarce a sound beside was heard,
Through the far and cloudless ether,
Save the carol of a bird;
Or the honey-bee's glad humming,
As she bore her sweets away;
For she knew 'twas summer coming,
And like all the world was gay!
When we plighted vows together,
No sad future met our ken,
For we thought that sunny weather
Would always smile as then;
And, that if May gave way to June,
Those laughing skies would last:
Alas! how darkly, and how soon,
Our heaven was overcast!
No sad future met our ken,
For we thought that sunny weather
Would always smile as then;
And, that if May gave way to June,
Those laughing skies would last:
Alas! how darkly, and how soon,
Our heaven was overcast!
68
Since we plighted vows together,
In the merry month of May,
Oh, how stormy wild the weather
That has crossed our onward way!
Spring, Summer, Autumn, all are gone,
With their chequered gloom and glow;
Yet, far off the goal in fancy won
So many years ago!
In the merry month of May,
Oh, how stormy wild the weather
That has crossed our onward way!
Spring, Summer, Autumn, all are gone,
With their chequered gloom and glow;
Yet, far off the goal in fancy won
So many years ago!
The faith we pledged together
Has known nor chill nor change,
And wedlock's silken tether
Has brought no wish to range;
For our hearts are warm as when of old,
Love's trysting bower within,
Our guileless passion to unfold,
We never deemed a sin!
Has known nor chill nor change,
And wedlock's silken tether
Has brought no wish to range;
For our hearts are warm as when of old,
Love's trysting bower within,
Our guileless passion to unfold,
We never deemed a sin!
Since we trod life's path together,
What wild changes have we known;
Hopes, that blossomed but to wither,
Joys, unheeded, all, till flown!
But can Winter freeze love's genial spring,
In hearts like ours that flows?
No; let him come, so he but bring
His wisdom with his snows!
What wild changes have we known;
Hopes, that blossomed but to wither,
Joys, unheeded, all, till flown!
But can Winter freeze love's genial spring,
In hearts like ours that flows?
No; let him come, so he but bring
His wisdom with his snows!
| Lyrics of the heart | |