Ye, Lovers Twain

Ye, lovers twain, went home
Through tender deepening night,
But all your life to come
Looked to you one light.

One light indeed it is,
Or may be, if ye will ;
Nay, trust your Lord for this,
In weal, in woe and ill.

For Night herself hath stars
More glorious than the sun ;
Behind our cloudy bars
They are shining on.

Go home, dear hearts, in peace
Athwart the twilit land ;
Forest leaves ne'er cease
Soft sounds on either hand.

And if a tear fall low
From me who have lived lon;
For loves of long ago
Earth no more may know,
Faith sings her under-song ;

" They only seem to die,
God numbered all and knew ;
Beautiful they lie
In calm eternity,
Alive and fresh with dew. "

September 1889.