Harriet (Sonnet)

If thou wert dear in sunny days gone by,
     When hand in hand we trod Life’s Eden-bowers,
     And, happy, laughed away the rosy hours—
If thou wert dearer when, confidingly,
     Thou stood’st with me, and plighted thy young faith,
     Vowing to love, unchangeably, till death—
Now, as I gaze into thy gentle eye,
     Radiant with love, serene in hope and trust,
     My spirit owns thee dearest, and I must
Yield my whole heart in wild idolatry
     To thee, my earthly idol! If I sin,
Still will I fondly hope to be forgiven,
     For, though an earthly temple shrined within,
Bright one! in thee I worship less of earth than heaven!