| |
| THOU art my very own, | |
| A part of me, | |
| Bone of my bone | |
| And flesh of my flesh. | |
| And thou shalt be | 5 |
| Heart of my heart | |
| And brain of brain— | |
| In years that are to come to me and thee. | |
| |
| Before thou wast a being, made | |
| Of spirit, as of flesh, | 10 |
| Thou didst sleep beneath the beats | |
| Of my tumultuous heart, and drink, | |
| With little aimless lips | |
| And blind, unseeing eyes, | |
| From every bursting vein | 15 |
| Replete with life’s abundant flood. | |
| Ay! even of my very breath, | |
| And from my blood | |
| Thou didst imbibe the fresh | |
| And glorious air, that holds the sweets | 20 |
| Of nature’s sure and slow eclipse; | |
| That ceaseless round of life and death | |
| Which are the close entwinëd braid | |
| Of all the seasons’ subtle mesh | |
| And endless chain. | 25 |
| |
| In a soft and silken chamber set apart— | |
| Here, just beneath my happy heart,— | |
| Thou didst lie at dreamy ease | |
| While all my being paid | |
| Its tribute unto thee. | 30 |
| What happy hours for thee and me! | |
| As when a bird | |
| Broods on its downy nest— | |
| So would I sit | |
| And watch the flit | 35 |
| Of idle shadows to and fro, | |
| And brood upon my treasure hid | |
| Within my willing flesh. | |
| And when there stirred | |
| A little limb—a tiny hand!— | 40 |
| What rapturous thrills of ecstasy | |
| Shook all my being to its inmost citadel! | |
| Ah! none but she who has borne | |
| A child beneath her breast may know | |
| What wondrous thrill and subtle spell | 45 |
| Comes from this wondrous woven band | |
| That binds a mother to her unborn child | |
| Within her womb. | |
| As in the earth— | |
| That fragrant tomb | 50 |
| Of all that lives, or man or beast— | |
| Soft blossoms bud and bloom and swell, | |
| So didst thou from my body gain | |
| Sweet sustenance and royal feast. | |
| |
| Then through the gates of priceless pain | 55 |
| Thou camest to me—fair, so fair, | |
| And so complete | |
| From rose-tipped feet | |
| To silken hair! | |
| And there beneath each pearly lid, | 60 |
| There glowed a jewel—passing rare! | |
| It moves and breathes! It slakes its thirst | |
| At my all-abundant breast! | |
| Oh, moment born of life—of love! | |
| Oh, rapture of all earth’s high, high above! | 65 |
| Three lives in one— | |
| By loving won! | |
| My own—and thine— | |
| Oh, bond divine! | |
| Our little child! Our little child! | 70 |
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