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LADY GERALDINE'S COURTSHIP.
In her utmost lightness there is truth—and often she speaks lightly;
And she has a grace in being gay, which mourners even approve;
For the root of some grave earnest thought is understruck so rightly,
As to justify the foliage and the waving flowers above.
And she talked on—we talked truly! upon all things—substance—shadow—
Of the sheep that browsed the grasses—of the reapers in the corn—
Of the little children from the schools, seen winding through the meadow—
Of the poor rich world beyond them, still kept poorer by its scorn!
So of men, and so, of letters—books are men of higher stature,
And the only men that speak aloud for future times to hear!
