I. <br />'BESIDE the nuptial curtain bright' <br />The Bard of Eden sings, <br />'Young Love his constant lamp will light, <br />'And wave his purple wings.' <br />But rain-drops from the clouds of care <br />May bid that lamp be dim, <br />And the boy Love will pout and swear <br />'Tis then no place for him. <br /> <br />II <br />So mused the lovely Mrs. Dash; <br />'Tis wrong to mention names; <br />When for her surly husband's cash <br />She urged in vain her claims. <br />I want a little money, dear, <br />'For Vandervoort and Flandin, <br />Their bill, which now has run a year, <br />To-morrow mean to hand in.' <br /> <br />III <br />'More?' cried the husband, half asleep, <br />'You'll drive me to despair;' <br />The lady was too proud to weep, <br />And too polite to swear. <br />She bit her lip for very spite, <br />He felt a storm was brewing, <br />And dreamed of nothing else all night <br />But brokers, banks, and ruin. <br /> <br />IV <br />He thought her pretty once, but dreams <br />Have sure a wondrous power, <br />For to his eye the lady seems <br />Quite altered since that hour— <br />And Love, who on their bridal eve, <br />Had promised long to stay, <br />Forgot his promise—took French leave— <br />And bore his lamp away.<br /><br />Fitz-Greene Halleck<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/domestic-happiness/
