A Sheaf Gleaned in French Fields/Sonnet—Oarystis (Joséphin Soulary)
Sonnet.—OARYSTIS.
They go side by side, far, far from the town,
Eyes bent on the earth, hand linkèd in hand,
Nor think they've strayed, and are hemmed by a band
Of the forest, with the night coming down.
Where go they? On to the wood's deepest brown,
Wherever their hearts intermingled command,
He proud to have dared, albeit moved—she grand
In her tremor and her beauty's bright crown.
No word have they said, and yet all is told.
Children be happy, nor deem love a crime!
And thou Theocritus, bard famous and old,
Smile at the drama unfolding sublime;
Two thousand years o'er thy verses have rolled,
And lo! they bloom here,—defiant of time.