Had We Not Met.

    Had we not met, the brooding woe
    And all the griefs that greater grow,
        Might not have been, and happy-wise
        Our lives have laughed with lullabies
    And quaffed such joys as few may know.

    Our days beneath embittered skies
    Where anguish moans and sorrow cries,
        Might not have wept and wandered so,
        Had we not met!

    But ah, my darling! All we prize,--
    Love and sweet trust that never dies,
        Wild yearnings that with constant flow
        From kindred heart to bosom go,--
    Would never in our souls had rise,
        Had we not met!