Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). An American Anthology, 1787–1900. 1900.

By Alice WellingtonRollins

975 Many Things Thou Hast Given Me, Dear Heart

MANY things thou hast given me, dear heart;

But one thing thou hast taken: that high dream

Of heaven as of a country that should seem

Beyond all glory that divinest art

Has pictured:—with this I have had to part

Since knowing thee;—how long, love, will the gleam

Of each day’s sunlight on my pathway stream,

Richer than what seemed richest at the start?

Make my days happy, love; yet I entreat

Make not each happier than the last for me;

Lest heaven itself should dawn to me, complete

In joy, not the surprise I dreamed ’t would be,

But simply as the natural and sweet

Continuance of days spent here with thee.