Were blue and red at home, she knew
That she--a woman, he--a man,
Could never wear the royal hue
Till blue and red together ran

In complement of each to each;
She might not tint his life at all
By learning wisdom he could teach;
So what she gave, though poor and small,
Should be of that beyond his reach.

Where Philip fed, she would not feed;
Where Philip walked, she would not go;
The books he read she would not read,
But live her separate life, and, so,
Have sole supplies to meet his need.

He held his mission and his range;
His way and work were all his own;
And she would give him in exchange
What she could win and she alone,
Of life and learning, fresh and strange.



XXIII.

While thus she sat in musing mood,
Determining her life's emprise,
The sunlight flushed the distant wood,