Classic Poem

6. Declaration.
The evening came stealing in twilight,
Wilder sounded the flood;
On the shore I sat and gazed
At the snow-white dance of waters;
And then my breast heaved big like the sea,
And yearning desire for home o'ercame me,
For thee, thou loveliest,
Who everywhere hoverest near,
Who everywhere call'st on me,
Everywhere, everywhere,
In sounding of wind, in resounding of sea,
And in sobbings which breathe from my heart.

With a slender reed I wrote on the sand:
" Agnes, I love thee! "
But evil billows came streaming
Over the tender avowal,
And washed it away.
Oh, too fragile reed! oh, thou unstable sand!
Ephemeral waters, to you I trust nevermore.
The heavens grow darker, my heart more reckless,
And with mighty hand from Norway's forests
Tearing the loftiest pine,
Deep do I plunge it

Into Etna's fierce glowing maw, and I write with
This pen of the Giants', flame-sodden,
I write on the dark vault of heaven:
" Agnes, I love thee! "

Each night returning glows evermore
Above me the flame-scroll eternally,
And races of children to come, thro' all ages,
Joyous shall read those heavenly words:
" Agnes, I love thee! "