Page:The poems of Edmund Clarence Stedman, 1908.djvu/59

ALICE OF MONMOUTH I never heard a sweeter voice;

And oh! were she my father's choice,

My father's choice and mine were one

In the strawberry-field and morning sun."

V

, from that summer morn,

Melting the souls of these two;

Love, which some of you know

Who read this poem to-day—

Is it the same desire,

The strong, ineffable joy,

Which Jacob and Rachel felt,

When he served her father long years,

And the years were swift as days—

So great was the love he bore?

Race, advancing with time,

Growing in thought and deed,

Mastering land and sea,

Say, does the heart advance,

Are its passions more pure and strong?

They, like Nature, remain,

No more and no less than of yore.

Whoso conquers the earth,

Winning its riches and fame,

Comes to the evening at last,

The sunset of threescore years,

Confessing that Love was real,

All the rest was a dream!

The sum of his gains is dross;

The song in his praise is mute;

The wreath of his laurels fades:

But the kiss of his early love

Still burns on his trembling lip,

The spirit of one he loved 29