ROBERT BROWNING
My being had I sign'd the bond Still one must lead some life beyond,
Have a bliss to die with, dim-descried. This foot once planted on the goal, This glory-garland round my soul, Could I descry such** Try and test! I sink back shuddering from the quest. Earth being so good, would heaven seem best^
Now, heaven and she arc beyond this ride.
And yet she has not" spoke so long' What if heaven be that, fair and strong At life's best, with our eyes upturned Whither life's flower is first discern'd,
We, fix'd so, ever should so abide? What if we still ride on, we two With life for ever old yet new, Changed not in kind but in degree, The instant made eternity, And heaven just prove that I and she
Ride, ride together, for ever ride?
��757 Love Among the Ruins
i
WHERE the quiet-coloured end of evening smiles Miles and miles On the solitary pastures where our sheep
Half-asleep Tinkle homeward thro' the twilight, stray or stop
As they crop
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