<h2><i><SPAN name="TO"></SPAN>TO —— ——</i></h2>
<p class="quotc">[Mrs. Marie Louise Shew.]</p>
<p class="poem">
Not long ago, the writer of these lines,<br/>
In the mad pride of intellectuality,<br/>
Maintained "the power of words"—denied that ever<br/>
A thought arose within the human brain<br/>
Beyond the utterance of the human tongue:<br/>
And now, as if in mockery of that boast,<br/>
Two words—two foreign soft dissyllables—<br/>
Italian tones, made only to be murmured<br/>
By angels dreaming in the moonlit "dew<br/>
That hangs like chains of pearl on Hermon hill,"<br/>
Have stirred from out the abysses of his heart,<br/>
Unthought-like thoughts that are the souls of thought,<br/>
Richer, far wilder, far diviner visions<br/>
Than even seraph harper, Israfel,<br/>
(Who has "the sweetest voice of all God's creatures,")<br/>
Could hope to utter. And I! my spells are broken.<br/>
The pen falls powerless from my shivering hand.<br/>
With thy dear name as text, though bidden by thee,<br/>
I cannot write—I cannot speak or think—<br/>
Alas, I cannot feel; for 'tis not feeling,<br/>
This standing motionless upon the golden<br/>
Threshold of the wide-open gate of dreams.<br/>
Gazing, entranced, adown the gorgeous vista,<br/>
And thrilling as I see, upon the right,<br/>
Upon the left, and all the way along,<br/>
Amid empurpled vapours, far away<br/>
To where the prospect terminates—<i>thee only</i>.<br/></p>
<hr class="r15" />
<div class="plate">
<SPAN name="pl22"></SPAN><SPAN href="images/large/pl22.jpg"><ANTIMG src="images/pl22.jpg" alt="" /></SPAN></div>
<p class="caption">To —— —— (Mrs. Maris Louise Shew)</p>
<hr class="r65" />
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