| Hunt and Lee, comps. The Book of the Sonnet. 1867. | | | | I. “If all the world had told me thou wert false” | | By Tranquilla |
| | | IF all the world had told me thou wert false, | |
| I had defied the world and ta’en thy part; | |
| But when from thee the confirmation comes, | |
| The arrow sinks, deep, deep, within my heart. | |
| It bleeds to think, that, henceforth and forever, | 5 |
| A ghastly doubt must follow at thy side, | |
| That confidence and holy trust can never | |
| Beneath the shadow of our roof abide; | |
| For unto thee a deep trust I had given, | |
| That, in our darkest moments, cheered me on. | 10 |
| No gifts, no fortune, nothing under heaven | |
| Can e’er replace that faith, it being gone! | |
| Naught but distressing doubts, suspicious fears, | |
| Can fill the measure of our coming years. | | | | |
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