Beside a Pleasant Shore

I LAY upon my narrow bed,And dreamed life's happy moments o'er;I thought that love my footsteps ledBeside a pleasant shore.

Care for a moment loosed its grasp,And breathing deep the fragrant brine,—My hand locked in my lover's clasp,—I felt his pulses throb with mine;

And dear contentment seemed my right,—There roaming from the world apart;I saw his eyes, I felt their lightBeam through the shadows, in my heart;

And waves, and trees—all nature—sangA pæan by that pleasant shore.Then I awoke, and with a pangRemembered that we loved no more.