Outside the porch before the door,

Her cheek upon the cold, hard stone, She lies, no longer foul and poor,

No longer dreary and alone.

Next morning, something heavily
Against the opening door did weigh,
And there, from sin and sorrow free,
A woman on the threshold lay.

A smile upon the wan lips told

That she had found a calm release,

And that, from out the want and cold, The had borne her soul in peace.

song

For, whom the heart of Man shuts out, Straightway the heart of God takes in,

And fences them all round about

With silence mid the world's loud din ;

And one of his great charities

Is Music, and it doth not scorn

1842.

To close the lids upon the eyes

Of the polluted and forlorn ;

Far was she from her childhood's home,
Farther in guilt had wandered thence,

Yet thither it had bid her come

To die in maiden innocence.

O, elm-leaves dark and dewy,
The very same ye seem,
The low wind trembles through ye.
Ye murmur in my dream!

1842.

O, stars, ye saw our meeting,
Two beings and one soul,
Two hearts so madly beating
To mingle and be whole!

O, happy night, deliver

Her kisses back to me,

Or keep them all, and give her
A blissful dream of me!

MIDNIGHT.

THE moon shines white and silent

On the mist, which, like a tide

Of some enchanted ocean,

O'er the wide marsh doth glide, Spreading its ghost-like billows Silently far and wide.

A vague and starry magic

Makes all things mysteries,

And lures the earth's dumb spirit Up to the longing skies,

I seem to hear dim whispers,

And tremulous replies.