Dream Tryst

She was as lovely as a flower,
    And, like a flower, she passed away,
And yet, as in that morning hour
    I saw her first, I still to-day
Her unforgotten face behold,
Tender as dew, and bright as gold.

Shed from her gown the old perfume,
    She steals like blossom to my side,
Sweetens my thoughts, and fills the room,
    And leaves me glad and sanctified;
She still about me comes and goes,
Soft as the shadow of a rose.

I know she only seemed to die,
    'Tis all the happier for me
That no one sees her face but I -
    So we would have it, I and she -
That no one see us meet and part
And hold each other heart to heart.

What trysts are ours, what moments rare,
    What happy laughter side by side,
While no one dreams that she is there,
    Because they think that she has died -
They'd call it dreams, were I to tell,
And so we keep our secret well.

And now it is this many a year
    Since they have missed her from her place,
Healed is the wound, and dried the tear
    That fell once for her vanished face;
And only I remember her,
Once so beloved and once so fair.

Once! - ah! beloved, if they could know!
    If they as I could see you still,
And watch your beauty lovelier grow,
    And feast their eyes and drink their fill
Of all that breath and bloom of you -
Ah! I might lose you, if they knew.

But now no eyes but mine can see,
    No hands can touch, no ears can hear,
And none can come 'twixt you and me
    No other lover hold you dear;
And Time that other beauty mars
Can reach you not among the stars.