THE VOICE OF LOVE.

WHEN shadows o'er the landscape creep,
And twinkling stars pale vigils keep;
When flower-cups all with dewdrops gleam,
And moonshine floweth like a stream;

Then is the hour

That hearts which love no longer dream,Then is the hour

That the voice of love is a spell of power!

When shamefaced moonbeams kiss the lake,
And amorous leaves sweet music wake;
When slumber steals o'er every eye,
And Dian's self shines drowsily;

Then is the hour

That hearts which love with rapture sigh,

Then is the hour

That the voice of love is a spell of power!

When surly mastiffs stint their howl,

And swathed in moonshine nods the owl;

When cottage-hearths are glimmering low, And warder cocks forget to crow;

Then is the hour

That hearts feel passion's overflow,

Then is the hour

That the voice of love is a spell of power!

When stilly night seems earth's vast grave,
Nor murmur comes from wood or wave;
When land and sca, in wedlock bound
By silence, sleep in bliss profound;

Then is the hour

That hearts like living well-springs sound, —

Then is the hour

That the voice of love is a spell of power!

AWAY! AWAY! O, DO NOT SAY.

AWAY! away! O, do not say
He can prove false to me:
Let me believe but this brief day

In his fidelity;

Tell me, that rivers backward flow,

That unsunned snows like fire-brands glow,

I may believe that lay,

But never can believe that he

Is false and fled away.

Ill acted part! ill acted part!

I knew his noble mind,

He could not break a trusting heart,
Nor leave his love behind;

Tell me yon sun will cease to rise,
Or stars at night to gem the skies,

I may believe such lay;

But never can believe that he

Is false and fled away.

Can it be so? O, surely no!

Must I perforce believe

That he I loved and trusted so,

Vowed only to deceive?

Heap coals of fire on this lone head, Or in pure pity strike me dead,

'T were kindness, on the day That tells me one I loved so well,

Is false, is fled away!

O, AGONY! KEEN AGONY.

O, AGONY! keen agony,

For trusting heart, to find.

That vows believed, were vows conceived

As light as summer wind.

O, agony fierce agony,

For loving heart to brook,

In one brief hour the withering power

Of unimpassioned look.

O, agony! deep agony,

For heart that 's proud and high,

To learn of fate how desolate

It may be ere it die.

O, agony! sharp agony,

To find how loth to part

With the fickleness and faithlessness

That break a trusting heat!