EVA.

“God bless the darling Eva!” was my prayer.

A pure, unconscious depth of earnestness

Was in her eyes, so indescribable

You might as well the color of the air

Seek to daguerreotype, or to impress

A stain upon the river, whose first swell

Would swirl it to the deep. A calm, sweet soul,

Where Love's celestial saints and ministers

Did hold the earthly under such control

Virtue sprung up like daisies from the sod.

Oh, for one hour's sweet excellence like hers!

One hour of sinlessness, that never more

Can visit me this side the Silent Shore,

To stand, like her, serene, unblushing before God!