A SUMMER MEMORY

I remember an evening, An evening in one far June, The sun seemed loth to leave the sky To a young impatient moon. The yellow sands lay waiting For the sea’s long cool embrace; We watched the ripples breaking, Like smiles upon its face. The green trees nestled closer To the broad breast of the hill; The twilight’s glamour gathered, And the day was with us still. And a sadness born of beauty, And a joy to pain akin, Touched all that lay without us, And hushed my soul within. A silence stepped between us, We seemed to stand apart; Yet I thought your eyes grew tender, And I know what filled my heart. But the words were never spoken; And the distance wider grew, Till the world of waves was lying Between me, love, and you, No bridge might ever cross it. I watched you turn away, And I went back to duty— ’Tis all a woman may. But I never shall be nearer The thrilling heights of bliss— Unless the next world gives us The love we lose in this— Than when in that far June-time, We seemed to stand apart, And I thought your eyes grew tender, And I knew what filled my heart.