Zöe 1900

I sit in my lonely turret —
       The crest of Minerva’s bird –
And a form appears from the vanished year
       And a mellow voice is heard.
In words that are warm and tender
       With memories of the day
When the welcome feet of our Darling boat [?]
       Fit measures grave or gay.

She is fair & sweet, & lovely,
       This one-time dweller of earth;
And her beaming eyes givens glad surprise
       In their twinkle of girlish mirth
The Earth-born souls around her
       Are as lithe, as pure & dear,
For their sinlessness gives power to bless,
       The love of who are lingering here.

The heart of our Angel Zoë
       Goes out to our hearts below
With a sweet caress to gladden & bless,
Though in ways we may not know;
       As the moon, gone down to the nadir,
              Still rules the invisible tides,
Her unseen soul doth one loves control
       Where her image forever abides.

By a graven head-stone watching
       I’ve had of her sacred dust,
Fresh flowers we lay for her natal day,
       To her fragrant memory just.
For better than changeless marble
       They tell of the living love
That makes her a part of the throbbing heart
       That beat with her own above.

I know she is fairer & sweeter –
       So sweet & so fair before
But I cannot guess what perfection
       Shines out of that more & more,
But her womanly grace obscures not [?] 
Young girlhood’s innocent glee,
And her angel-lover in the mystic groves
       Leave ever the earth-love free!