When do I see thee most, beloved one?

                                   

                            When do I see thee most, beloved one?
                         When in the light the spirits of mine eyes
                         Before thy face, their altar, solemnise
                         The worship of that Love through thee made known?
                         Or when in the dusk hours, (we two alone,)
                         Close-kissed and eloquent of still replies
                         The twilight-hidden glimmering visage lies,
                         And my soul only sees thy soul its own?

                        O love, my love! if I no more should see
                        Thyself, nor on the earth the shadow of thee,
                        Nor image of thine eyes in any spring, -
                        How then should sound up Life's darkening slope
                        The ground-whirl of the perished leaves of Hope,
                        The wind of Death's imperishable wing?