An Anniversary

I.

AS flower to sun its drop of dew

   Gives from its crystal cup,

So I, as morning gift to you,

   This poor verse offer up.

II.

As flowers upon the summer wind

   Their air-born odours shake,

So, in all fragrance you may find,

   I give but what I take.

III.

My tree blooms green through snow and heat;

   Your love is sap and root,—

And this is but the breathing sweet

   Of fairest blossom-shoot.

IV.

An outgrowth of the happy days

   In wedded lives begun—

Two lives, in all their work and ways,

   Indissolubly one.

V.

The force that was to bind us so

   We very dimly knew.

Ah, love! it seems so long ago,

   And yet the years are few.

VI.

We did not wait for tides to rise,

   Nor cared that winds were rough;

They call'd us foolish—we were wise;

   God gave us wealth enough.

VII.

He only knows what precious change

   We took of Him for gold;

What blessing such a narrow range

   Of circumstance can hold.

VIII.

No troubles now could memory spare,

   No lightest touch of pain;

No hand experience of care

   Would we unlearn again.

IX.

Such love surrounds, such beauty lies

   On our most common needs,

As silver hoar-frost glorifies

   The wayside sticks and weeds.

X.

All trials that are overpast,

   All cares that are to be,

But make more sacred and more fast

   The ties 'twixt you and me.

XI.

They are but clear lights shining through

   The mist that round us rolls;

They are but touchstones, fine and true

   For fond and faithful souls.

XII.

They are but fires, to cleanse and clean

   Our human love from stain;

For naught of sordid, false, or mean

   From these blest fires remain.

XIII.

They are but keys within the wards

   Of that last, inmost door,

Where the heart's dearest treasure-hoards

   Are garner'd evermore.

XIV.

Ah, dear! our very griefs are glad

   Our every cross is crown'd;

We are not able to be sad,

   Such comfort wraps us round.

XV.

How calm the haven where we rest,

   Now passion's storms are past!

How warm and soft the little nest

   Which shelters us at last!

XVI.

How—blue, pellucid, and divine—

   Through all our days and nights,

The clear eyes of our children shine

   Like heavenly beacon-lights!

XVII.

We listen to the laughter sweet

   Whose echoes come and go,

The music of little feet

   That patter to and fro.

XVIII.

And deepest thoughts of God awake,

   Who hath reveal'd Him thus,

And, in His goodness, deign'd to make

   His own abode with us.

XIX.

To God, in Christ, we kneel to-day

   (Whose will on earth be done);

As He hath made us, let us pray

   That He will keep us, one.

XX.

Together, may we feel Him stand

   About our path and bed;

Together may we, hand in hand,

   His royal highway tread.

XXI.

The dear ones He has given, to be

   Of His redeem'd the type—

Together, may we live to see

   Their budding promise ripe.

XXII.

And, O my dearest! may we lie,

   In our last night of rest,

Asleep together, peacefully,

   Upon our Father's breast.