Volume 23 — A WOMAN'S GIFTS.

First I would give thee—nay, I may and will, Thoughts, memory, prayers, a sacred wealth unguessed, My soul's own glad and beautiful bequest, Conveyed in voiceless reverence, deep and still, As angels give their thoughts and prayers to God! Next I would yield, in service freely made, All of my days and years, thy needs to fill; To bear or heavy cross, or thorny rod, Glad of my bondage, deeming it most meet: Oh, mystery of love, as strange as sweet, That love from its own wealth should be repaid! Last, I would give thee, if it pleased thee so, And for thy pleasure, wishing it increased, My woman's beauty, heart and lips aglow; But this, dear, last—so soon its charm must fade, It is, indeed, of all my gifts, the least! Mary Ainge DeVere.