Poems (Hooper)/Nemesis

by Lucy Hamilton Hooper

For works with similar titles, see Nemesis.

NEMESIS.

Come and let me look upon your face,
 Azure eyes, bright hair, and brow of snow;
For your beauty I have sold my soul.
 Were you worth it, love? I do not know.

I had friends once, faithful, tried, and true,
 Friends who loved me in the long ago;
Now unrecognized I pass them by.
 Were you worth it, love? I do not know.

Once Ambition lured me, and I saw
 Fame's bright guerdons in the future glow;
'Neath your smile the bays ungathered died.
 Were you worth it, love? I do not know.

Then my country claimed me, and my heart
 Answered to the battle-call, "I go!"
'Twas your snowy arms that held me back.
 Were you worth it, love? I do not know.

Once I had a vision of a home
 And a fond wife spotless as the snow;
I have you now, and the scorn of men.
 Were you worth it, love? I do not know.

Ne'er for me shall Honor weave her wreath,
 Ne'er for me a happy hearth shall glow;
Mine are sin and shame, and you, dear, you.
 Were you worth it, love? Alas, I know!