At these childish words She raised her head, and with a sweet, sad smile Of love and pity blent, made her response: "Not yet, my husband--if your wife may speak A thought that crosses yours--not yet have you Found the great secret of content. But work May help you toward it, and in any case Is better far than idleness. For this, You ask of me to sacrifice this home And all the truest friends my life has gained. I do it from this moment; glad to prove, At any tender cost, my love for you, And faith in your endeavor. I will go To any spot of earth where you may lead, And go rejoicing. Let us go at once!" "I burn my ships behind me," I replied. "Measure the cost: be sure no secret hope Of late return be found among the flames; For, if I go, I leave no single thread, Save that which binds me to my mother's grave. To draw me back." "My love shall be the torch To light the fire," she answered. Then we rose, And, with a kiss, marked a full period To love's excess, and with a sweet embrace Wrote the initial of a stronger life. A REFLECTION. Oh! not by bread alone is manhood nourished To its supreme estate! By every word of God have lived and flourished The good men and the great. Ay, not by bread alone! "Oh! not by bread alone!" the sweet rose, breathing In throbs of perfume, speaks; "But myriad hands, in earth and air, are wreathing The blushes for my cheeks. Ay, not by bread alone!" "Oh! not by bread alone!" proclaims in thunder The old oak from his crest; "But suns and storms upon me, and deep under, The rocks in which I rest. Ay, not by bread alone!" "Oh! not by bread alone!" The truth flies singing In voices of the birds; And from a thousand pastured hills is ringing The answer of the herds: "Ay, not by bread alone!" Oh! not by bread alone! for life and being Are finely complex all, And increment, with element agreeing, Must feed them, or they fall. Ay, not by bread alone! Oh! not by love alone, though strongest, purest That ever swayed the heart; For strongest passion evermore the surest Defrauds each manly part. Ay, not by love alone! Oh! not by love alone is power engendered. Until within the soul The gift of every motive has been rendered, It is not strong and whole. Ay, not by love alone! Oh! not by love alone is manhood nourished To its supreme estate: By every word of God have lived and flourished The good men and the great. Ay, not by love alone! PART III. LABOR. Ten years of love!--a sleep, a pleasant dream That passed its culmen in the early half, Concluding in confusion--a wild scene Of bargains, auctions, partings, and what not?-- And an awaking!