At last we parley: we so strangely dumb <br />In such a close communion! It befell <br />About the sounding of the Matin-bell, <br />And lo! her place was vacant, and the hum <br />Of loneliness was round me. Then I rose, <br />And my disordered brain did guide my foot <br />To that old wood where our first love-salute <br />Was interchanged: the source of many throes! <br />There did I see her, not alone. I moved <br />Toward her, and made proffer of my arm. <br />She took it simply, with no rude alarm; <br />And that disturbing shadow passed reproved. <br />I felt the pained speech coming, and declared <br />My firm belief in her, ere she could speak. <br />A ghastly morning came into her cheek, <br />While with a widening soul on me she stared.<br /><br />George Meredith<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/modern-love-xlvi-at-last-we-parley/
