I dreamt (would God it were true!) that thou and I were friends together;
Let us tell then one another the sweet secrets of our hearts.
See, I have a book; it is filled with loving verses:
Of thee I seek but love, let us wander through the gardens.
Hand in hand together, we will walk, and sit, and rise;
Let us be happy together, let us join in merry converse.
Offer me the well filled goblet, from thy hands alone I take it;
Give me yet again thy lip's kiss, and again I press thee for it.
The Minstrel at a distance draws his bow across the strings;

Here she lies, whom Fortune dowered
With the virgin wealth of Youth,
Beauty, and the love of Truth,
Golden Honour, spotless Fame,
Twenty-times transmitted name!
Here she lies, deserted, dead!
Dead, alas, and on her head
The cold and crumbling earth is showered!
Not a stone is at her feet;
Not a bud, with Summer sweet,
Sleepeth on her winding-sheet.
Yet what do such poor wants avail?
The sad-eyed widow, Pity pale,
Weepeth when her story's told;
How her love was left for gold;
How, desert' and doomed to fade,
(Underneath the green grass laid,)

Only a blush! O'er the cheek it swept,
In a tint, but a shade more bright,
While over the forehead the soft glow crept,
Like Aurora's roseate light.

Only a blush! 'Twas a single word
That the heart's deep fountain woke,
And in turbulent gushes, its depths were stirred,
For the lips were loved that spoke.

Only a blush! Yet the glow revealed
That she loved him, and with pride
In the armor of many a conquest steel'd,
He lingered near her side,

And breathed into her credulous ear,
In the whim of an idle hour,

I own three golden nuggets.
Two boys and a girl;
Who fondly call me mother;
I'm the happiest woman in the world.

I loved them ere they knew me,
I prayed that they might live;
As their little brown arms entwined me,
I gave all that I could give.

A mother's love and sympathy;
A mother's joy and tears;
A mother's heart—felt interest,
And above all, a mother's prayers.

I heard their childish laughter,
I joined them in their play;
I kissed their cuts and bruises;
I wiped their tears away.

God has let me keep my nuggets,

Spokes when he sees a rosted Pig, he swears
Nothing he loves on't but the chaps and ears:
But carve to him the fat flanks; and he shall
Rid these, and those, and part by part eat all.

Pause, pause, thou libertine, and lay
Thy hand upon thy bounding heart,
And ask thy soul, if to betray
The virgin is a manly part?

Alas! 'tis here the error lies—
'Tis gallantry to rob the maid
Of her fair fame, and tyrannize
O'er the fond heart by love betray'd.

Mistaken Man! the honor prize
Of Woman, nor her peace destroy;
'Tis her meek smile that best supplies
The sweetest zest of social joy.

Reject th' enticements of Desire,
Ye lovely maids, with cautious mind;
Nor yield to that destructive fire

Farewell, sweet Love! yet blame you not my truth;
More fondly ne'er did mother eye her child
Than I your form: yours were my hopes of youth,
And as you shaped my thoughts I sighed or smiled.

While most were wooing wealth, or gaily swerving
To pleasure's secret haunts, and some apart
Stood strong in pride, self-conscious of deserving,
To you I gave my whole weak wishing heart.

And when I met the maid that realized
Your fair creations, and had won her kindness,
Say, but for her if aught on earth I prized!

Why sigh? I'm in love. And with whom? With a girl.
Is she pretty? Delightful, a rosebud, a pearl.
And where did you meet her? At dinner one night.
Do you hope to succeed? Well, I fancy I might;
But I don't want it known; it must be on the sly.
You have no thought of marriage? No, no, sir, not I
The girl has no money, or so I am told,
‘No money,’ forsooth; true love cares not for gold.

Oh, greater than God!
Oh, deeper than all wisdom!
Oh, sharper than the sting of death!
Oh, more boundless than earth
Or the many stars,
This love that fills my heart.

Oh miracle of the divine!
Oh, mystery of all mysteries!
Oh, strange flight of the spirit!
Oh, beauty illimitable
As the wide sky—
This love that fills my heart.

(Earth is a rainbow,
And my heart is young with wonder,
Since Love has come.)

Yes, here, my pretty swallow, twittering guest,
You every summer build your little nest,
And wing your flight ere comes the snow
To Memphis, or you seek the shores of Nile.
But Eros in my heart with many a wile
His nest weaves and he will not go.
One love is fully fledged and one is still
Within the shell; another half-fledged will
Become a grown love shortly; so
Great is the noise they make no peace at all
I have; the larger ones support the small.
In turn the younger nurslings too
Produce an infant brood. I cannot free