"We met--we gazed--I saw, and sigh'd,
She did not speak, and yet replied:
There are ten thousand tones and signs
We hear and see, but none defines-- 235
Involuntary sparks of thought,
Which strike from out the heart o'erwrought[136]
And form a strange intelligence
Alike mysterious and intense,
Which link the burning chain that binds, 240
Without their will, young hearts and minds:
Conveying, as the electric wire,
We know not how, the absorbing fire.--
I saw, and sigh'd--in silence wept,
And still reluctant distance kept, 245
Until I was made known to her,
And we might then and there confer
Without suspicion--then, even then,
I long'd, and was resolved to speak;
But on my lips they died again, 250
The accents tremulous and weak,
Until one hour.--There is a game,
A frivolous and foolish play,
Wherewith we while away the day;
It is--I have forgot the name-- 255
And we to this, it seems, were set,
By some strange chance, which I forget:
I reckon'd not if I won or lost,
It was enough for me to be
So near to hear, and oh! to see 260
The being whom I loved the most.
I watch'd her as a sentinel,
(May ours this dark night watch as well!)
Until I saw, and thus it was,
That she was pensive, nor perceived 265
Her occupation, nor was grieved
Nor glad to lose or gain; but still
Play'd on for hours, as if her will
Yet bound her to the place, though not
That hers might be the winning lot. 270
Then through my brain the thought did pass
Even as a flash of lightning there,
That there was something in her air
Which would not doom me to despair;
And on the thought my words broke forth, 275
All incoherent as they were--
Their eloquence was little worth,
But yet she listen'd--'tis enough--
Who listens once will listen twice;
Her heart, be sure, is not of ice, 280
And one refusal no rebuff.