Two Lovers
by George Eliot (1819-1880)

Two lovers by a moss-grown spring:
   They leaned soft cheeks together there,
   Mingled the dark and sunny hair,
And heard the wooing thrushes sing.
               O budding time!
               O love’s blest prime!

Two wedded from the portal stept:
   The bells made happy carolings,
   The air was soft as fanning wings,
White petals on the pathway slept.
               O pure-eyed bride!
               O tender pride!

Two faces o’er a cradle bent:
   Two hands above the head were locked:
   These pressed each other while they rocked,
Those watched a life that love had sent.
               O solemn hour!
               O hidden power!

Two parents by the evening fire:
The red light fell about their knees
On heads that rose by slow degrees
Like buds upon the lily spire.
               O patient life!
               O tender strife!

The two still sat together there,
   The red light shone about their knees;
   But all the heads by slow degrees
Had gone and left that lonely pair.
               O voyage fast!
               O vanished past!

The red light shone upon the floor
   And made the space between them wide;
   They drew their chairs up side by side,
Their pale cheeks joined, and said, “Once more!”
               O memories!
               O past that is!

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