University of Virginia Library

A REMINISCENCE

I wandered by the frozen pond,
In the nipping eager weather,
And there I met two lovers fond
That walked and leaned together.
They were not comely, rich, or wise,
They had no past, no story,
But either pair of eager eyes
Was lit with tender glory.
A frosty haze bedimmed the sky,
The red sun flared thereunder,
Gilding a pompous canopy
Where they might walk and wonder.
How glossy-green, on the covert-edge,
The gemmed and guarded holly!
The fat thrush piped in the wintry hedge
To feed their melancholy.
How large and new the mystery
That set them softly guessing,
While overhead the spacious sky
Renewed the ancient blessing.
And I was part of their young dream,
Of the merry pageant round them,
Transfigured by the heavenly gleam;—
For nothing could astound them.
The children smiled to see them blest,
And mocked their fond entwining,
They passed into the golden west,
And left me half repining;
Rich store had I of sober days,
And contemplations lonely,
Some little wealth, some human praise,—
They had each other only.
And yet I'd give, unenvied pair,
My intellectual vision,
To be so sweet a mutual care,
To cause such dear derision.
And I too passed, a lonely form,
In the nipping eager weather,
Yet it somehow made my heart more warm
To think of them together.