She smiled, and then my heart regained its lightness,
And bounded in my breast with rapture high:
Then durst I pass within her zone of brightness,
And gaze upon her with unquailing eye.
XI.
Straightway she stretched her hand among the thin
And watery haze that round her presence hovered;
Slowly it coiled and shrunk her grasp within,
And lo! the landscape lay once more uncovered—
Again mine eye could scan the sparkling meadow,
I looked to heaven, and all was clear and bright;
I saw her hold a veil without a shadow,
That undulated round her in the light.
XII.
"I know thee!—all thy weakness, all that yet
Of good within thee lives and glows, I've measured;
She said—her voice I never may forget—
"Accept the gift that long for thee was treasured.
Oh! happy he, thrice-blessed in earth and heaven,
Who takes this gift with soul serene and true,
The veil of song, by Truth's own fingers given,
Enwoven of sunshine and the morning dew.
XIII.
"Wave but this veil on high, whene'er beneath
The noonday fervour thou and thine are glowing,
And fragrance of all flowers around shall breathe,
And the cool winds of eve come freshly blowing.
Earth's cares shall cease for thee, and all its riot;
Where gloomed the grave, a starry couch be seen;
The waves of life shall sink in halcyon quiet;
The days be lovely fair, the nights serene."
