Have I offended?—then _forgive_—’twill be the nobler part— And oh, _forget_ that I have wronged thy warm and generous heart, For careless words though lightly said come keenly to the mind, To chill its glowing depths with tones like winter’s frozen wind. Ah! “cast the shadow” from thy heart, and mine shall glow with thine In purer flames, whose fairy gleams in rainbow beauty shine, Its thoughts of thee shall brighten then though all around be sad, Its every dream of thee be sweet—its every vision glad— * * * * * UNHAPPY LOVE. BY GEO. D. PRENTICE. ’Tis vain, ’tis vain, these idle tears! Thou art far distant now; No more, oh never more my lips May press thy pale, sweet brow; And yet I cannot, cannot burst The deep and holy spell that first Bade my strong spirit bow With all of passion’s hopes and fears Before thee in our happier years. Those eves of love, those blessed eves— Their memory still comes back A glory and a benison O’er life’s bewildering track, Their light has vanished from our lot Like meteor-gleams and left us—what? The sigh, the tear, the rack! And yet upon their visions blest Still love can turn and sink to rest. I know thou lovest me, I know Thine eyes with tears are dim, I know that stricken love still chants To thee its mournful hymn; I know the shadows of love’s dream In the deep waves of memory’s stream Like soft star-shadows swim; But oh! the fiend of wild unrest Is raging in my tortured breast. Forgive me, gentle one, forgive My burning dreams of thee; Forgive me that I dare to let Forbidden thoughts go free; My torrent-passions madly sweep On, darkly on, and will not sleep But in death’s silent sea; And I—a mouldering wreck—am still The victim of their stormy will. Ah, dear one, suns will rise and set, And moons will wax and wane, The seasons come and go, but we Must never meet again; That thought, whene’er I hear thy name, Is like a wild and raging flame Within my heart and brain; But none, save thee, shall ever know The secret of my living wo.