Meeting In The Woods

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Through ferns and moss the path wound to
  A hollow where the touchmenots
  Swung horns of honey filled with dew;
  And where--like foot-prints--violets blue
  And bluets made sweet sapphire blots,
  'Twas there that she had passed he knew.

  The grass, the very wilderness
  On either side, breathed rapture of
  Her passage: 'twas her hand or dress
  That touched some tree--a slight caress--
  That made the wood-birds sing above;
  Her step that made the flowers up-press.

  He hurried, till across his way,
  Foam-footed, bounding through the wood,
  A brook, like some wild girl at play,
  Went laughing loud its roundelay;
  And there upon its bank she stood,
  A sunbeam clad in woodland gray.

  And when she saw him, all her face
  Grew to a wildrose by the stream;
  And to his breast a moment's space
  He gathered her; and all the place
  Seemed conscious of some happy dream
  Come true to add to Earth its grace.

  Some joy, on which Heav'n was intent--
  For which God made the world--the bliss,
  The love, that raised her innocent
  Pure face to his that, smiling, bent
  And sealed confession with a kiss--
  Life needs no other testament.

© Madison Julius Cawein