Page:Pocahontas, and Other Poems.djvu/175

 MARRIAGE OF THE DEAF AND DUMB.

��No word ! no sound ! But yet a solemn rite Proceedeth through the festive lighted hall. Hearts are in treaty, and the soul doth take That oath which, unahsolved, must stand till death, With icy seal, doth stamp the scroll of life.

No word ! no sound ! But still yon holy man With strong and graceful gesture doth impose The irrevocable vow, and with meek prayer Present it to be registered in heaven.

Methinks this silence heavily doth brood Upon the spirit. Say, thou flower-crown'd bride, What means the sigh which from that ruby lip Doth 'scape, as if to seek some element Which angels breathe ?

Mute ! mute ! 'tis passing strange Like necromancy all. And yet, 'tis well ; For the deep trust with which a maiden casts Her all of earth, perchance her all of heaven, Into a mortal's hand, the confidence With which she turns in every thought to him,

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