Love

The dark had left no speech save hand-in-hand

by Josephine Preston Peabody 1874–1922

From The Singing Man (1911)

Love

The dark had left no speech save hand-in-hand
Between us two the while, with others near.
Mine questioned thine with 'Why should I be here?'
'Yet bide thou here,' said thine, 'and understand.'

And mine was mute; but strove not then to go;
And hid itself, and murmured, 'Do not hear
The listening in my heart!' Said thine, 'My Dear,
I will not hear it, ever. But I know.'

Said mine to thine: 'Let be. Now will I go!--
For you are saying,--you who do not speak,
This hand-in-hand is one day cheek-to-cheek!'
And said thy hand around me, 'Even so.'

Then mine to thine.--'Yea, I have been alone;
--Yet happy.--This is strange. This is not I!
You hold me, but you can not tell me why.'
And said thy hand to mine again, 'My Own.'

MLA

Peabody, Josephine Preston. “The dark had left no speech save hand-in-hand.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/peabody/123/.

Chicago

Peabody, Josephine Preston. “The dark had left no speech save hand-in-hand.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/peabody/123/.

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