Page:Maryland, my Maryland, and other poems - Randall - 1908.pdf/63



You came to me in feeble health, the hectic on your cheek, Revealed to my adoring sight a body frail and weak; The lissome form, the glamoured eyes, the spirit undefiled, These, and a glimpse of early death, I saw, beloved child! And if, my guilty heart could dare to make your heart its goal— I did not love you for your face—I loved you for your soul!

You came to me a waif of God, unsullied by deceit; I felt it sacrilege to kiss the shadows of your feet. And when your thoughts were magnified beyond the dull terrene, Me dreamt you sat within the Heaven beside the Nazarene. And if my fierce emotions seared your being like a scroll— I did not love you for your face—I love you for your soul!