So my last vain dream has faded;
(Such as I to think of fame!)
Yet I will not say it failed me,
For it crowned my Godfrey’s name. 
No; my Angel did not cheat me,
For my long life has been blest;
He did give me Love and Sorrow,
He will bring me Light and Rest.

VERSE:  A WOMAN’S QUESTION

Before I trust my Fate to thee,
Or place my hand in thine,
Before I let thy Future give
Colour and form to mine,
Before I peril all for thee, question thy soul to-night for me.

I break all slighter bonds, nor feel
A shadow of regret: 
Is there one link within the Past,
That holds thy spirit yet? 
Or is thy Faith as clear and free as that which I can pledge to thee?

Does there within thy dimmest dreams
A possible future shine,
Wherein thy life could henceforth breathe,
Untouched, unshared by mine? 
If so, at any pain or cost, oh, tell me before all is lost.

Look deeper still.  If thou canst feel
Within thy inmost soul,
That thou hast kept a portion back,
While I have staked the whole;
Let no false pity spare the blow, but in true mercy tell me so.

Is there within thy heart a need
That mine cannot fulfil? 
One chord that any other hand
Could better wake or still? 
Speak now—­lest at some future day my whole life wither and decay.

Lives there within thy nature bid
The demon-spirit Change,
Shedding a passing glory still
On all things new and strange?—­
It may not be thy fault alone—­but shield my heart against thy own.

Couldst thou withdraw thy hand one day
And answer to my claim,
That Fate, and that to-day’s mistake,
Not thou—­had been to blame? 
Some soothe their conscience thus:  but thou, wilt surely warn and save me
now.

Nay, answer not—­I dare not hear,
The words would come too late;
Yet I would spare thee all remorse,
So, comfort thee, my Fate—­
Whatever on my heart may fall—­remember I would risk it all!

VERSE:  THE THREE RULERS

I saw a Ruler take his stand
And trample on a mighty land;
The People crouched before his beck,
His iron heel was on their neck,
His name shone bright through blood and pain,
His sword flashed back their praise again.

I saw another Ruler rise—­
His words were noble, good, and wise;
With the calm sceptre of his pen
He ruled the minds and thoughts of men;
Some scoffed, some praised—­while many heard,
Only a few obeyed his word.

Another Ruler then I saw—­
Love and sweet Pity were his law: 
The greatest and the least had part
(Yet most the unhappy) in his heart—­
The People, in a mighty band,
Rose up, and drove him from the land!

VERSE:  A DEAD PAST