| Hunt and Lee, comps. The Book of the Sonnet. 1867. | | | | VII. “O Faithful heart! on balmy nights like this” | | By Paul Hamilton Hayne (1830–1886) |
| | | O FAITHFUL heart! on balmy nights like this, | |
| I long to tell thee all the love I bear,— | |
| My sacred love! that knows not doubt, or fear, | |
| Fixéd in golden round of married bliss; | |
| The rapture of our first betrothal kiss | 5 |
| Thrills through me now, as warmly fond and dear | |
| As when with eager soul I bent to hear | |
| Thou didst not deem my tremulous vows amiss. | |
| TIME cannot chill a love so true as ours, | |
| But rather, like a spiritual SUN, matures | 10 |
| Affection’s bloom, and brightens all its flowers; | |
| Thus, that which charmed in youth our manhood lures, | |
| For passion wins from age its noblest powers, | |
| And love ’s evolved from love, whilst love endures. | | | | |
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