THE CRIMINAL'S BETROTHED.
As on a waveless sea, a vessel strikes
Upon a treacherous rock;
Waking the sailors from their happy dreams
By the swift, terrible shock.
Upon a treacherous rock;
Waking the sailors from their happy dreams
By the swift, terrible shock.
Dreaming of shaded village streets, and home,
Forgetting the cruel sea
Till the shock came—so woke I, yet I know
'Twas Love, I loved, not he.
Forgetting the cruel sea
Till the shock came—so woke I, yet I know
'Twas Love, I loved, not he.
'Tis not the star the wave so wildly clasps,
Only its form reflected in the stream;
'Tis not a broken heart I mourn,
Only a broken dream.
Only its form reflected in the stream;
'Tis not a broken heart I mourn,
Only a broken dream.
I should have died when he was brought so low,
Had it been him I loved,
Died clinging to him, as to the blasted oak
The ivy clings unmoved.
Had it been him I loved,
Died clinging to him, as to the blasted oak
The ivy clings unmoved.
'Twas Love that looked on me with strange, sweet eyes
Burning with marvellous flame;
Love was the idol that I worshipped, though
I gave to it his name.
Burning with marvellous flame;
Love was the idol that I worshipped, though
I gave to it his name.
