THE PLEDGE

By Gilbert Parker

O gifts divine as any ever knew

The noble spirits of an antique time;

As any poets fashion in their rhyme,

Or angels whisper down the shadeless blue!

The priceless gifts of holy confidence,

That speak through quivering lips from heart to heart;

That unto life new energies impart,

And open up the gates of prescience.

O dear my love, I unto thee have given

Pledge that I am thy vassal evermore;

I stand within the zenith of my Heaven,

On either hand a starred eternal shore

I have come nearer to thy greater worth,

For thou hast raised me from the common earth.