TO MY W IFE, ON THE S EVENTEENTH A NNIVERSARY OF OUR W
EDDING D AY

So many stormy suns have sought the night,
So many stormless noontides passed away,
Since that far-off fair stormless autumn day
When all the young world seemed so full of light.
The world seems darker now, but yet more bright,
The more the dark sky gathers robes of grey,
Thy love — that shines with holier tenderer ray
When all heaven's stars spread golden sails for flight

The one thing stedfast in a world of change,
The one light quenchless in a world of gloom,
Is love like thine, my noble-hearted wife!
And (if man's thought beyond the stars may range)
Such love may live, if aught outlast the tomb,
In the unknown land where love is light and life