Twice Crowned

O fair young Bride! I have seen thee stand 
On the golden shore of the Eden Land, 
By airs from its asphodel gardens fanned, 
          That bloom by the Beautiful River;
A glory fell on thy soft brawn hair, 
From the luminous depths of its purple air.
And it seemed the crown of thy birth right there,
          The dawn of thy blest Forever!

What a patient smile, was on thy lip,
As the Pallid Angol stood to dip 
His oar in the waves that rose to slip
          O'er thy feet, by the Beautiful River;
Then the Cherub of Life almost reversed 
His flaming torch for thy Hymen nursed, 
And the light of thy soul through its thin walls burst,
          As if leaving earth forever!

But the torch of the Cherub caught the breath 
Of a human love more strong than death, 
And it rose again! and thy sweet soul hath 
          Returned from the Beautiful River,
To bear, in the glance of thy luminous eyes, 
The purple light of that Paradise, 
To souls who are thine by the sacred ties 
          That cling though the dim Forever.

O fair young Bride! as I see thee now, 
With the Orange and Myrtle upon thy brow, 
Where the lilies of Eden had flung their glow,
          From over the Beautiful River,
I say, "May the Angels guard thee well, 
And thy marriage garland of mingled smell,— 
Love's Myrtle with Heaven's white Asphodel, —
          May it bloom as purely forever!".