Page:Poems Holley.djvu/56

Provokingly cold at first he seemed,
 Like crystal to smiles and sighs,
But at last he felt the magic that gleamed
 In my dreamy violet eyes.

And I led him on and on,
 Farther, in truth, than I strove,
For he frightened me with the earnestness
 And violence of his love;
These calm-eyed men deceive
 Had I known the man had a heart,
I would have paused, I would, I believe,
 Have acted a different part.

In his royal indignation
 He uttered some wholesome truth—
He almost roused the emotion
 That died in my innocent youth;
Emotion that lived when life was new,
 Ere that man my pathway crossed,
Who played me a game untrue,
 When I staked all my love, and lost.

Oh for a saintly beauty,
 What efforts my soul did make;
I thought all goodness and purity
 Were possible for his sake;