That they are ours, and we are wed!

"Walk through these freshly garnished rooms--
These halls of oak and tinted pearl--
And mark the cups of clover-blooms,
Cut fresh, to greet the stranger-girl,
By those whose kindliness illumes

The house beyond the grace of flowers!
They greet you, mantled by my name,
And rain their tenderness in showers,--
Responding to the double claim
Of love no longer mine, but ours.

"This is our parlor, plain and sweet:
Your hands shall make it half divine.
That wide, old-fashioned window-seat
Beneath your touch shall grow a shrine;
And every nooklet and retreat,

And every barren ledge and shelf,
Shall wear a charm beyond the boon
Of treasure-bearing drift, or delf,
Or dreams that flutter from the moon;
For it shall blossom with yourself.

"This is my study: here, alone,
Prayerful to Him whom I adore,
And gathering speech to make him known,
Your far, quick footsteps on the floor,