Song

TO a woman's wistful heart

In a startled wave of feeling,

Swift and sudden,

Sweeps love's flood in,

Joy with fear in rapture reeling;

Scathe and sorrow, fret and smart,

In one flush of gladness healing;

Life beclouded,

Sorrow shrouded,

As a sunlit world revealing

To a woman's wistful heart!

To a woman's wistful heart,

Warm with hopes that almost frighten.

Love comes singing,

Gladly bringing

To her loneliness a light in.

Pain and shadowed grief depart,

Every hour life's glories heighten;

Earth's wide wonder

That has shunned her

Like a flower blooms to brighten

In a woman's wistful heart!