And hath its will through blissful gentleness, Not like a rocket, which, with savage glare, Whirrs suddenly up, and bursts, and leaves the night Painfully quivering on the dazèd eyes; A love that gives and takes, that seeth faults, Not with flaw-seeking eyes like needle-points, But loving, kindly, ever looks them down With the o'ercoming faith of meek forgive ness ; A love that shall be new and fresh each hour, To guide and to uphold an infant's steps: look their earnest ITS CONSCIOUS UNISON. When panting sighs the bosom fill, The sure beginnings, say, be these Which angels sing in heaven above? Or is it but the vulgar tune Which all that breathe beneath the moon It is; and it would sound the same Arthur Hugh Clough. FIRST FANCY AND FIRST LOVE. There is a great difference between first fancy and first love. Bulwer Lytton. NOUGHT SO SWEET AS TRUE LOVE. Sitting by a river's side, Where a silent stream did glide, Muse I did of many things I 'gan think how some men deem Honour is the chief content Who esteem your virgin blisses Sweeter than a wife's sweet kisses: No such quiet to the mind As true love with kisses kind. But if a love prove unchaste, Robert Greene. LOVE THE MELODY OF HUMANITY. It is by means of this divine passion that the world is kept ever fresh and young. It is the perpetual melody of humanity. It sheds an effulgence upon youth, and throws a halo round age. It glorifies the present by the light it casts backward, and it lightens the future by the beams it casts forward. The love which is the outcome of esteem and admiration has an elevating and purifying effect on the character. It tends to emancipate one from the slavery of self. It is altogether unsordid; itself is its only price. It inspires gentleness, sympathy, mutual faith, and confidence. True love also in a measure elevates the intellect. "All love renders wise in a degree," says the poet Browning, and the most gifted minds have been the sincerest lovers. Great souls make all affections great; they elevate and consecrate all true delights. The sentiment even brings to light qualities before lying dormant and unsuspected. It elevates the aspirations, expands the soul, and stimulates the mental powers. One of the finest com pliments ever paid to a woman was that of Steele, when he said of Lady Eliz. Hastings, "that to have loved her was a liberal education." Viewed in this light, woman is an educator in the highest sense, because, above all other educators, she educates humanly and lovingly. It has been said that no man and no woman can be regarded as complete in their experience of life until they have been subdued into union with the world through their affections. As woman is not woman until she has known love, neither is man, man. Both are requisite to each other's completeness. The true union must needs be one of mind as well as of heart, and based on mutual esteem as well as mutual affection. ITS FERVENT DELIGHT. Smiles. Last night, when some one spoke his name, Were shiver'd in my narrow frame. O love! O fire! once he drew Before he mounts the hill, I know In my dry brain, my spirit soon, My heart, pierced thro' with fierce delight, Bursts into blossom in his sight. My whole soul waiting silently, Droops blinded with his shining eye : REASONABLE LOVE. That which is to be loved long is to be loved with reason, rather than with passion. Dr. Johnson. LOVE AND CROQUET. They play'd at croquet on the lawn- And chatter'd gaily as she stood; A game at croquet might be good! She ask'd me if I did not play, And volunteer'd the rules to teach; But I replied I could not stay Which surely was a stupid speech ;Especially as I remain'd ! Upon the ground at least an hour! At putting others to the rout! I liked the laughter in her eyes, I liked the glow of exercise Upon her cheek; and, as she play'd, But language there has made a slip, For feet like hers would never trip, They're far too clever, and too neat! Jerningham. LOVE'S CONTRARIETIES. Plaisir d'amour ne dure qu'un moment; Chagrin d'amour dure toute la vie. Twice have I danced with her, and once gone down With her to supper; once she spoke to me Out of the common, trifling, prattling tone. I think that I have pass'd but two or three Short minutes with her when I could have spoken Too short to screw my courage up to speak And now those sweet and slender threads are broken, Save that which Memory holds and cannot break. Now am I left to count my little gain Chagrin d'amour ne dure qu'un moment; That incense which all sorrow's thought beguiles. And she the better thus will count her gain Of pleasure for that little thought of pain. Anon. QUICKENS THE SENSES. Pleasures lie thickest where no pleasures seem; There's not a leaf that falls upon the ground But holds some joy, of silence or of sound, Some sprite begotten of a summer dream. The very meanest things are made supreme With innate ecstasy. No grain of sand But moves a bright and million-peopled land, And hath its Eden, and its Eves, I deem. OH, I WILL LOVE THEE! Oh, I will love thee! when the glorious sun Doth gently sink behind yon western hill, When all the various works of man are done, And every living thing is hush'd and still. Oh, I will love thee! when the queen of nigl.t Riseth serenely from behind the trees, And poureth on the earth her silver Fight, And gently sporteth on the midnight breeze. Oh, I will love thee! when the vesper star Shineth so brightly through the woody dell, When nought doth see it here or from afar, Save that sad lonely bird, sweet Philomel! Oh, I will love thee! when grey morning dawns In rich refulgence thro' the bosom'd grove, And the bright dewdrops glisten on the lawn, And tempt the humble labourer's feet to rove. Oh, I will love thee! when the howling blast Of sorrow's gale around thy head shall swell; When from thy heart thy peaceful thoughts are cast, To thee I'll fondly whisper "All is well." Anon. F |