The Husband’s Petition

Come hither, my heart’s darling,
Come, sit upon my knee,
And listen, while I whisper
A boon I ask of thee.

You need not pull my whiskers
So amorously, my dove;
’Tis something quite apart from
The gentle cares of love.

I feel a bitter craving—
A dark and deep desire,
That glows beneath my bosom
Like coals of kindled fire.

The passion of the nightingale,
When singing to the rose,
Is feebler than the agony
That murders my repose!

Nay, dearest! do not doubt me,
Though madly thus I speak—
I feel thy arms about me,
Thy tresses on my cheek:

I know the sweet devotion
That links thy heart with mine,—
I know my soul’s emotion
Is doubly felt by thine:

And deem not that a shadow
Hath fallen across my love:
No, sweet, my love is shadowless,
As yonder heaven above.

These little taper fingers—
Ah, Jane! how white they be!—
Can well supply the cruel want
That almost maddens me.

Thou wilt not sure deny me
My first and fond request;
I pray thee, by the memory
Of all we cherish best—

By all the dear remembrance
Of those delicious days,
When, hand in hand, we wandered
Along the summer braes;

By all we felt, unspoken,
When ’neath the early moon,
We sat beside the rivulet,
In the leafy month of June;

And by the broken whisper
That fell upon my ear,
More sweet than angel music,
When first I wooed thee, dear!

By thy great vow which bound thee
For ever to my side,
And by the ring that made thee
My darling and my bride!

Thou wilt not fail nor falter,
But bend thee to the task—
A BOILED SHEEP’S-HEAD ON SUNDAY Is all the boon I ask!