To M.I.P.

YOUR gracious words steal o'er like the breeze
That blows from far-off southland isles benign,--
All steeped in perfume, sweet as fairy wine,
Yet touched with salt keen breathings of the seas!
What smiling thoughts of tender ministries
Passionless service, and strong faith divine,
Rest with this pictured sister's face of thine,
And sister's love:--(blent fire and balms of ease!)
O love! a two-faced shield of light thou art,
Whose golden-sided glamour long hath shone,
In wedded bliss and affluence on my life;
A sister's love--the fair shield's silvery zone,
Turns on me now!--thy deathless fervor, wife,
Blends with the sweetness of this new found heart!