Three shadows

I looked and saw your eyes

In the shadow of your hair,

As a traveller sees the stream

In the shadow of the wood;

And I said, "My faint heart sighs,

Ah me! to linger there,

To drink deep and to dream

In that sweet solitude."

I looked and saw your heart

In the shadow of your eyes,

As a seeker sees the gold

In the shadow of the stream;

And I said, "Ah me! what art

Should win the immortal prize,

Whose want must make life cold

And Heaven a hollow dream?"

I looked and saw your love

In the shadow of your heart,

As a diver sees the pearl

In the shadow of the sea;

And I murmured, not above

My breath, but all apart,--

"Ah! you can love, true girl,

And is your love for me?"