Underglimpses (1857) :: :: University of Virginia Library

163

TRUTH IN SONG.

1

I cannot sing, I cannot write
To show that I can write and sing—
I cannot for a cause so slight
Command my Ariel's dainty wing:—
Not for the dreams of cultured youth,
Nor praises of the lettered throng,
Ah! no, I string the pearls of song
But only on the chords of truth:—

164

2

And when the precious pearls are strung,
What are their value, but to deck
Some kindred forehead, or be hung
Around the whiteness of some neck?—
Some neck? some forehead?—ah! but one
Would win or haply wear the chain,
And now the fragments of the strain
Lie broken round me—She is gone!

3

Gone from my home some weary hours,
But never, never from my heart—
Gone—like the memory of the showers
To flowers long-drooping, Love, thou art:—
O truest friend—O best of wives—
Come soon! my world, my queen, my crown,
Then shall the pearls run ringing down
The love-twined chords of both our lives.

1852.