THROUGH A VEIL.

YES, to-day I spoke with her,

And she blush'd, I thought, and smil'd

Thro' the veil her breath did stir;

Half a woman, she, half child, -

All true soul and spirit pure,

Never deceiving, I am sure,

Never made for mock or lure!

Under that blue curtain, tell

What divine unspoken thought,

What the bond invisible,

What the fancy, all unsought,

What the sweet dream unfulfill'd,

Brought to waking, scar'd and still'd,

Not as I, nor any, will'd.

Thro' a never-lifted veil

Must I, gazing vainly, see

Faint as utmost sea-dipt sail,

That sweet face shadow'd from me, -

That dear unforgotten face,

With unutterable grace

Shining from some distant place?

Ah, to those who yearn to know, -

Daily listen at love's gate,

Hard enough to find! . . We go

Through the ways high-hedg'd and strait,

Just a thick blue canopy,

Just a flower, a bird, a tree,

Just a westering wind, you see!

Seldom touch we nearest those

Human hearts from youth akin.

Can love suddenly disclose

The soul history writ within

Her dim room where nothing stirs

Save high thought's interpreters,

Passion, and no voice but hers?

Yes . . . perhaps; some instant grace

Of remember'd months and years

May unveil the drooping face;

Eyes that shine with blissful tears,

Looking others thro' and thro',

Shall disclose their secret; true

Will the tale be, told to you!

But 'tis hard to wait and wait

Till the moment - if it may -

Strike that soul-spark; all too late

May it flame and fade, I say!

If I dared - if it might be -

With bold fingers suddenly

Lift the shadowing veil and see!

Love will not be coaxt or spurr'd

Faster than time's whirling wheels

Follow trackless . . . Yet to have heard

Music sung divine, one feels

Somehow for the melody

Nobler: loving her, so I

Hold a higher destiny.