Stedman and Hutchinson, comps. A Library of American Literature:
An Anthology in Eleven Volumes. 1891.
Vols. IX–XI: Literature of the Republic, Part IV., 1861–1889
A Simile
By Lucy White Jennison (Owen Innsly) (b. 1850)[Born in Newton, Mass. From Love Poems and Sonnets. By Owen Innsly. 1882.]
A
The solitary rock lies all unmoved
By the caressing waves, though unreproved
Their constant kisses on its breast they pour.
So it stands witnessed by all human lore,
Where’er the wanton god of love has roved,
His shafts fell never equal; one beloved,
One lover, there must be forevermore.
Dear, if thou wilt, be thou that rock at sea,
But let me be the waves that never leave
Their yearning towards it through the ocean space;
And be thou the belovèd, but let me
Be the fond lover destined to receive
And hold thee in love’s infinite embrace.