TWO LOVERS. Here loving hands have gently laid The neighbors' children, girl and boy, And man and wife; head close to head They sleep, and know nor pain nor joy. 175 JOHN W. CHADWICK. T TWO LOVERS. WO lovers by a moss-grown spring: They leaned soft cheeks together there, Mingled the dark and sunny hair, And heard the wooing thrushes sing. O budding time! O love's blest prime! Two wedded from the portal stept: Two faces o'er a cradle bent: Two hands above the head were locked; These pressed each other while they rocked, Those watched a life that love had sent. O solemn hour! O hidden power! Two parents by the evening fire: O patient life! O tender strife! The two still sat together there, The red light shone about their knees; Had gone and left that lonely pair. O voyage fast! O vanished past! The red light shone upon the floor And made the space between them wide; Their pale cheeks joined, and said, "Once more! " O memories! O past that is! GEORGE ELIOT. IN TWOS. OMEWHERE in the world there hide SOME Garden-gates that no one sees Save they come in happy twos, But from every maiden's door IN TWOS. Then they see the garden-gates! Round and round the alleys wind: When no nook in all the lanes In they wander, knowing not: All about the startled pair. Happier yet these garden-walks; Till, at last, as on they pass Down the paths so well they know Once again at hidden gates Stand the two: they enter slow. 12 177 |