Felicia Hemans

“ Save, or we perish! we would pour our lives
Forth as a joyous offering to Thy truth,
But we are weak;—we, the bruised reeds of earth,
Are sway’d by every gust. Forgive, O God!
The blindness of our passionate desires,
The fainting of our hearts, the lingering thoughts,
Which cleave to this frail world. Forgive, accept
The sacrifice, though dim with mortal tears,
Wrung forth from mortal pangs! And if our souls,
In all the fervent dreams, the fond excess,
Of their long-clasping love, have wander'd not,
Holiest! from thee; oh! ”

“ To dwell with thee—even thence th' oppressor's hand
Might soon have torn us:—or the touch of death
Might one day there have left a widow'd heart,
Pining alone. We will go hence, Beloved!
To the bright country, where the wicked cease
From troubling, where the spoiler hath no sway;
Where no harsh voice of worldliness disturbs
The Sabbath-peace of love. We will go hence,
Together with our wedded souls, to Heaven:
No solitary lingering, no cold void,
No dying of the heart! Our lives have been
Lovely through faithful love, and in our deaths
We will not be divided. ”

“ And wander'd with me into solemn glens,
Where my soul felt the beauty of His word.
I have heard voices of immortal truth,
Blent with the everlasting torrent-sounds
That make the deep hills tremble—Shall I quail?
Shall England's daughter sink?—No! He who there
Spoke to my heart in silence and in storm,
Will not forsake his child!
Gomez (turning from her.) Then perish! lost
In thine own blindness!
Edith (suddenly throwing herself at his feet.)
⁠Father! hear me yet!
Oh! if the kindly touch of human love
Hath ever warmed thy breast. ”