Oft, after that, I urged him ne’er to wed
One whom he could not love. He only sigh’d:
“This heart of mine that once loved you, Pauline,
How could it love again with love as true?
Yet what, if not? My soul was immature,
Romantic, young. It must be manly now.
A man has breadth. I take it manly love
Is love that yields most blessings to the most.
And mine shall bless yourself, your father, her.”—
And so he calm’d my doubt and cheer’d me much.