She came; and I who linger’d there, I saw that she was very fair; And, with my sighs that pride suppress’d, There rose a trembling wish for rest. But I, who had my own design For destiny that should be mine, I turn’d me to my task and wrought, And so forgot the passing thought. She paused; and I who question’d there, I heard she was as good as fair; And in my soul a still, small voice Enjoin’d me not to check my choice. But I, who had my own design For destiny that should be mine, I bade the gentle guardian down, And strove to think about renown. She left; and I who wander, fear There comes no more to see or hear; Those walls that ward my paradise Are very high, nor open twice. And I, who had my own design For destiny that should be mine, Can only wait without the gate And sit and sigh—“Too late! too late!” DRAMATIC. HAYDN. This poem was suggested by the tale entitled “A First Love,” in the “Musical Sketches” of Elize Polko. Her authority for the narrative was the historical fact that the wife of Haydn had a sister who was beloved by him, and who entered a convent. My own authority for the imagined connection indicated in the poem between the marriage of Haydn and the influence of the father and the priest, is derived from such passages as these, which may be found in every biography of the musician: “Forced to seek a lodging” (_i.e._ when a boy in Vienna), “by chance he met with a wig-maker, named Keller, who had often noticed and been delighted with the beauty of his voice at the Cathedral, and now offered him an asylum. This Haydn most gladly accepted; and Keller received him as a son.... His residence here had, however, a fatal influence on his after life.... Keller had two daughters; his wife and himself soon began to think of uniting the young musician to one of them; and even ... ventured to name the subject to Haydn.... He did not forget his promise to his old friend Keller, of his marrying his daughter.... But he soon found that she ... had ... a mania for priests and nuns.... He was himself incessantly annoyed and interrupted in his studies by their clamorous conversation.... At length he separated from his wife, whom, however, he always, in pecuniary concerns, treated with perfect honor.” _Biographical Dictionary of Musicians_, 2 vols., London, 1827. Such facts, taken in connection with the well-known piety of Haydn, are a sufficient warrant, as I think, for my supposing that “priests and nuns” who so annoyed him had had something to do with drawing into a convent that member of the family whom he had loved the most. In the poem I have endeavored to bring the personality of the musician before the mind of the reader by using the name Haydn, rather than his baptismal name, Joseph. I.