Page:All quiet along the Potomac and other poems.djvu/32

How can I tell, my darling,
What you would choose to say,
If the bright brown eyes were open,
The white lid drawn away?
 
Never was doorway barred
So close as the blue-veined gate;
Wake! I am here, my darling;
I would, but I cannot, wait.

Softly the shining glory
Lifts in the waking eyes,
And a flash like summer lightning
Tells of a glad surprise.

Then, with a lover's craving,
I ask of the eyes again
If their tale is true for ever,
And find, with a jealous pain,

That behind their brightest glitter
Lies that I cannot see,
And thoughts may crouch behind them
That speak no word to me.

O human soul so near me,
Still with thy visor barred,
When shall I know thee truly,
Without thy starry guard?—

Never to read thee better,
Never to read aright,