_= "The Parting."
I looked not, I sighed not, I dared not betray
The wild storm of feeling that strove to have way,
For I knew that each sign of the sorrow _I_ felt
_Her_ soul to fresh pity and passion would melt,
And calm was my voice, and averted my eyes,
As I parted from all that in being I prize.
I pined but one moment that form to enfold.
Yet the hand that touched hers, like the marble was cold,--
I heard her voice falter a timid farewell,
Nor trembled, though soft on my spirit it fell,
And she knew not, she dreamed not, the anguish of soul
Which only my pity for her could control.
It is over--the loveliest dream of delight
That ever illumined a wanderer's night!
Yet one gleam of comfort will brighten my way,
Though mournful and desolate ever I stray:
It is this--that to her, to my idol, I spared
The pang that her love could have softened and shared!
* * * * *
=_Harriet Beecher Stowe._= (Manual, p. 484.)
From the "Religious Poems."
=_389._= THE PEACE OF FAITH.
When winds are raging o'er the upper ocean,
And billows wild contend with angry roar,
'Tis said, far down, beneath the wild commotion,
That peaceful stillness reigneth evermore.
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