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"UNTIL HER DEATH".
Dearest and bonniest! though blanched those curling tresses,
Though loose clings the wedding-ring to that thin hand of thine,—
Brightest of all eyes the eye that love expresses!
Sweetest of all lips the lips long since kissed

So let the world go round with all its sighs and sinning,
Its mad shout o'er fancied bliss, its howl o'er pleasures past:
That which it calls love's end to us was love's beginning:—
I clasp my arms about thy neck and love thee to the last.


"UNTIL HER DEATH."
I.

UNTIL her death!"the words read strange yet real,
Like things afar off suddenly brought near:—
Will it be slow or speedy, full of fear,
Or calm as a spent day of peace ideal?