Page:Home; or, The unlost paradise (IA homeorunlostpara00palm).pdf/31

Of myriad blossoms laughing o'er the fields,
Received a youthful pair. Late at God's shrine
In holy rite made one, hand joined to hand
As heart before to heart, here they begin,
Rich in fair hopes and visions, and yet more
In fresh affections, for themselves and theirs
A Home to found and consecrate. Henceforth,
Holy the place shall be through opening years,
In all their thoughts; sacred to wedded love,
To tranquil joys, to purity, to peace;
To healthful pleasures with each other shared;
To useful tasks together daily wrought;
To books and culture, and congenial friends;
To piety, and prayer, and heavenward steps;
To all that earth yet yields to faithful hearts
Demonstrative that once an Eden was,
And proof, by foretaste, that a heaven shall be.
Edward and Mary—these the names they bore;
Names, like their story, neither new nor strange.
Nor name nor story such as one might choose
Who with romantic tale, or legend old,