Poems (Van Rensselaer)/Hearthstones
HEARTHSTONES
II am a woman who sits here with LifeBy the dead ashes of the fire of love.I am but young, yet he, bending aboveThe hearth that grows the colder for our tears,Is wan and gray, outwearied with the strifeTo keep some spark alight through the slow years.Who now shall warm and comfort him? and how shall IBear with his days and nights who know not how to try?
IIHere I, a woman, sit with Love besideThe fire of life, and watch its embers glowStill with a ruddy light though burning low.He ever young, I counting not my years,As we have sat for long shall so abide,Handfast, until the Messenger appears.Heart, heart, how sweet is still the laughter in Love's eyes,How warm the lingering fire upon the hearthstone lies!