The First Meeting

Last night for the first time, O Heart's Delight,
    I held your hand a moment in my own,
    The dearest moment which my soul has known,
Since I beheld and loved you at first sight.

I left you, and I wandered in the night,
    Under the rain, beside the ocean's moan.
    All was black dark, but in the north alone
There was a glimmer of the Northern Light.

My heart was singing like a happy bird,
    Glad of the present, and from forethought free,
Save for one note amid its music heard:
    God grant, whatever end of this may be,
That when the tale is told, the final word
    May be of peace and benison to thee.