Lucile . ore sweet 192 LUCILE. j Eyes brighter—brows whiter—a figure more fairOr lovelier lengths of more radiant hair—Than thine Lady Alfred! And here I aver(May those that have seen thee declare if I err)That not all the oysters in Britain containA pearl pure as thou art. Let some one explain,—Who may know more than I of the intimate lifeOf the pearl with the oyster,—why yet in his wife,In despite of her beauty—and most when he feltHis soul to the sense of her loveliness melt—Lord Alfred missd something he sought for: indeed,The more that he missd it the greater the need;Till it seemd to him
Lucile . ore sweet 192 LUCILE. j Eyes brighter—brows whiter—a figure more fairOr lovelier lengths of more radiant hair—Than thine Lady Alfred! And here I aver(May those that have seen thee declare if I err)That not all the oysters in Britain containA pearl pure as thou art. Let some one explain,—Who may know more than I of the intimate lifeOf the pearl with the oyster,—why yet in his wife,In despite of her beauty—and most when he feltHis soul to the sense of her loveliness melt—Lord Alfred missd something he sought for: indeed,The more that he missd it the greater the need;Till it seemd to himself he could willingly spareAll the charms that he found for the one charm not there. IV. For the blessings Life lends us, it strictly de-mands The worth of their full usufruct at our hands. And the value of all things exists, not indeed In themselves, but mans use of them, feedingmans need. Alfred Vargrave, in wedding with beauty andyouth, Had embraced both Ambition and in truth. Mid the dank weeds and grasses.—Page 161. Lucile. LUCILE. 193 Unfulfiird the ambition, and sterile the wealth(In a life paralyzed by a moral ill-health),Had remained, while the beauty and youth, unredeemedFrom a vague disappointment at all things, but seemedDay by day to reproach him in silence for allThat lost youth in himself they had faild to recallNo career had he followed, no object obtainedIn the world by those worldly advantages gainedFrom nuptials beyond which once seem*d to appear,Lit by love, the broad path of a brilliant that glittered and gleamd through the moonlight of youthWith a glory so fair, now that manhood in truthGraspd and gathered it, seemd like that false fairy goldWhich leaves in the hand only moss, leaves and mould Fairy gold! moss and leaves! and the young Fairy Bride?Lived there yet fairy-lands in the face at his side?Say, O friend, if at evening thou ever hast watchdSome pale and impalpable vapor, detachdFrom the dim and disconsolate e
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