Page:The poems of Emma Lazarus volume 1.djvu/324

310 Shall we sail to-night?

My Princess! Thou recoilest not from all Thou must endure, ere I can openly Claim thee my wife!

The pangs of purgatory Were lightly borne with such a heaven in view. I were content with one brief hour a day, Snatched from the toils of war and thy high duties, To gaze on thy dear face to feel thy hand, Even as now a stay and a caress.

Angel, I have no thanks. May God forget me When I forget this hour ! So, thou art firm— Ready this night to leave thy home, thy kin, Thy father?

I am ready and resolved. Yet judge me not so lightly as to deem I say this with no pang. My love were naught. Could I withdraw it painlessly at once From him round whose colossal strength the tendrils