Shall I not know?

Shall I not heed?

When your last sun, with wening light,
Below the sad horizon dips,

Shall I not rush from out the night
To die once more upon your lips?

Ah, the black moment comes! Draw nigh,
Stoop down, 0 Love, and hold me fast.
O empty earth: 0 empty sky!

There is no answer, though I die
Breathing my soul out in the cry,

Is it the first kiss - or the last?"

We have two beautiful poems expressing the thoughts

of a young husband as his fair young wife lies dead. While both are strangely pathetic, why is it that the Victorian poem appeals to our emotions more strongly?

ELEGY

By Henry King

(Songs of Three Centuries, page 28)

"Sleep on, my love, in thy cold bed,
Never to be disquieted!

My last good night! Thou wilt not wake
Till I thy fate shall overtake.

Stay for me there! I will not fail
To meet thee in that hollow vale.
And think not much of my delay:
I am already on the way,

And follow thee with all the speed
Desire can make, or sorrow breed.
Each minute is a short degree,

And every hour a step towards thee.

But hark! my pulse, like a soft drum,
Beats my approach, tells thee I come:
And slow howe'er my marches be,

I shall at last sit down by thee.

The thought of this bids me mo on,
And wait my dissolution

With hope and comfort. Dear forgive
The crime, I am content to live

Divided, with but half a heart,

Till we shall meet, and never part."

The other poem appeals to our emotions through the

delicate fragrance of the violets; the forest dream is a

contrast to the picture of frosty winter. The soft touch

es displayed here and there are in perfect harmony with

the delicacy of the entire poem.

"Searching for flowers in the forest,
Hunting for violets blue,

That I was doing this morning

When I was awaken'd by you.

Breathing the first sweet fragrance

Of the hemlock and the pine,

Setting my foot on the mosses,

And the tangled partridge vine;
When laying your hand on my shoulder,
You suddenly brought me back