Hearts make Edens of their own;
Wilt thou linger by my side,--
Wilt thou live for me alone,
Making bright the winter weather,
Thou and I and love together?"

"Yea," I said, "for thee alone,"--
Shading eyes lest they confess
Too much their own happiness,
With the happy tears o'erflown.

Gravely thou--"The world is not
Like this ferny hollow--
Through a rougher, thornier lot
Wilt thou bravely follow?"
Still the brook, with softer flow,
Called, "Oh hear! Oh follow!"
"Aye," I said, with bated breath,
"Where thou goest, I will go;
Holding still thy stronger hand,
Through the dreariest desert land,
True, till death."

Silence fell between us two,
Noiseless as the silver dew;
Hearts that had no need of speech
In the silence spoke to each;
And along the sapphire blue,
Shot with shafts of sunset through,
Fell a voice, a bodiless breath--