Of a rare breed, and, as his master gave
A murmur of delight at some sweet line,
He raised his slender head, and kept his eye
Upon him till the pleasant smile had passed
From his mild lips, and then he slept again.
The light beyond the crimson folds grew dusk,
And the clear letters of the pleasant book
Mingled and blurred, and the lithe hound rose up,
And, with his earnest eye upon the door,
Listened attentively. It came as wont—
The fall of a light foot upon the stair-
And the fond animal sprang out to meet
His mistress, and caress the ungloved hand,
He seemed to know was beautiful. She stooped
Gracefully down and touched his silken ears

As she passed in-then, with a tenderness,
Half playful and half serious, she knelt
Upon the ottoman and pressed her lips
Upon her husband's forehead.

She rose and put the curtain-folds aside
From the high window, and looked out upon
The shining stars in silence. "Look they not

Like Paradise to thine eye?" he said—

But, as he spoke, a tear fell through the light,
And starting from his seat he folded her

Close to his heart, and, with unsteady voice,
Asked if she was not happy. A faint smile
Broke through her tears; and pushing off the hair
From his fine forehead, she held back his head
With her white hand, and, gazing on his face,

Gave to her heart free utterance :

Happy?—yes, dearest !—blest

Beyond the limit of my wildest dream—
Too bright, indeed, my blessings ever seem;
There lives not in my breast,

One of Hope's promises by Love unkept,
And yet forgive me, Ernest—I have wept.

How shall I speak of sadness,

And seem not thankless to my God and thee? How can the lightest wish but seem to be

The very whim of madness?

Yet, oh, there is a boon thy love beside

And I will ask it of thee-in my pride!

List, while my boldness lingers!

If thou hadst won yon twinkling star to hear theeIf thou couldst bid the rainbow's curve bend near

thee

If thou couldst charm thy fingers

To weave for thee the Sunset's tent of gold-
Wouldst in thine own heart treasure it untold?

If thou hadst Ariel's gift,

To course the veined metals of the earth

If thou couldst wind a fountain to its birth-
If thou couldst know the drift

Of the lost cloud that sailed into the sky-
Wouldst keep it for thine own unanswered eye?

It is thy life and mine!

Thou in thyself, and I in thee, misprison
Gifts like a circle of bright stars unrisen-
For thou whose mind should shine

Eminent as a planet's light, art here—
Moved with the starting of a woman's tear!

I have told o'er thy powers

In secret, as a miser tells his gold;

I know thy spirit calm, and true, and bold :

I've watched thy lightest hours,

And seen thee, in the wildest flush of youth Touched with the instinct ravishment of truth.

Thou hast the secret strange

To read that hidden book, the human heart;
Thou hast the ready writer's practised art;
Thou hast the thought to range

The broadest circles Intellect hath ran

And thou art God's best work-an honest man!

And yet thou slumberest here

Like a caged bird that never knew its pinions,

And others track in glory the dominions
Where thou hast not thy peer-

Setting their weaker eyes unto the sun,

And plucking honor that thou shouldst have won.

Oh, if thou lov❜dst me ever,

Ernest, my husband! If th' idolatry

That lets go heaven to fling its all on thee—

If to dismiss thee never

In dream or prayer, have given me aught to claim— Heed me-oh, heed me! and awake to Fame!

Her lips

Closed with an earnest sweetness, and she sat

Gazing into his eyes as if her look

Searched their dark orbs for answer. The warm blood

Into his temples mounted, and across

His countenance the flush of passionate thoughts
Passed with irresolute quickness. He rose up
And paced the dim room rapidly awhile,
Calming his troubled mind, and then he came
And laid his hand upon her orbéd brow,
And in a voice of heavenly tenderness

Before I knew thee, Mary,

Ambition was my angel. I did hear

For ever its witch'd voices in mine ear;

My days were visionary,

My nights were like the slumbers of the mad,

And every dream swept o'er me glory-clad.