Page:Zinzendorff and Other Poems.pdf/262

    Tho' Fame to farthest earth her name had borne,
    These brought no shield against the envious thorn;
            Deem not the envenom'd dart
    Invulnerable found her thrilling woman's heart.

Man's home is every where. On Ocean's flood,
Where the strong ship with storm-defying tether
        Doth link in stormy brotherhood
            Earth's utmost zones together,
Where'er the red gold glows, the spice-trees wave,
Where the rich diamond ripens, 'mid the flame
    Of vertic suns that ope the stranger's grave,
        He, with bronz'd cheek and daring step doth rove;
            He with short pang and slight
        Doth turn him from the chequer"d light
    Of the fair moon thro' his own forests dancing,
        Where music, joy and love
            Were his young hours entrancing;
        And where Ambition's thunder-claim
                Points out his lot,
        Or fitful Wealth allures to roam,
            There, doth he make his home,
                And still repineth not.

It is not thus with Woman. The far halls
        Though ruinous and lone,
Where first her pleased ear drank a nursing-mother's tone,
            The humble walls
Of that small garden where her childhood sported free,
        Affection, with unfading tint recalls,
    And every flower hath in its cup a bee,
    Making fresh honey of remember'd things,
The flowers without a thorn, the bees bereft of stings.