O FAITHFUL friend! O gentle wife!
I know I may not add to-day
One drop unto thy' wine of life,'
Of love, or happiness, or pride;
I know 't is only mine to lay
One rose-leaf on the mantling tide.
O, what without thy sunny face,
Lit with the day-spring from above,
Were thine abode of song and grace, —
Art's fairy realm, joy's resting-place, —
Where now a sacred trio meet,
Power, innocence, contentment sweet,
Genius and infancy and love!