Dreams.

Thank God for dreams! I, desolate and lone,         In the dark curtained night, did seem to be     The centre where all golden sun-rays shone,         And, sitting there, held converse sweet with thee.     No shadow lurked between us; all was bright         And beautiful as in the hours gone by,     I smiled, and was rewarded by the light         Of olden days soft beaming from thine eye.     Thank God, thank God for dreams!     I thought the birds all listened; for thy voice         Pulsed through the air, like beat of silver wings.     It made each chamber of my soul rejoice         And thrilled along my heart's tear-rusted strings.     As some devout and ever-prayerful nun         Tells her bright beads, and counts them o'er and o'er,     Thy golden words I gathered, one by one,         And slipped them into memory's precious store.     Thank God, thank God for dreams!     My lips met thine in one ecstatic kiss.         Hand pressed in hand, and heart to heart we sat.     Why even now I am surcharged with bliss -         With joy supreme, if I but think of that.     No fear of separation or of change         Crept in to mar our sweet serene content.     In that blest vision, nothing could estrange         Our wedded souls, in perfect union blent.     Thank God, thank God for dreams!     Thank God for dreams! when nothing else is left.         When the sick soul, all tortured with its pain,     Knowing itself forever more bereft,         Finds waiting hopeless and all watching vain,     When empty arms grow rigid with their ache,         When eyes are blinded with sad tides of tears,     When stricken hearts do suffer, yet not break,         For loss of those who come not with the years -     Thank God, thank God for dreams!