| Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). An American Anthology, 1787–1900. 1900. |
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| 107. Song of Egla |
| | | By Maria Gowen Brooks (“Maria del Occidente”) |
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| DAY in melting purple dying, | |
| Blossoms all around me sighing, | |
| Fragrance from the lilies straying, | |
| Zephyr with my ringlets playing, | |
| Ye but waken my distress: | 5 |
| I am sick of loneliness. | |
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| Thou to whom I love to hearken, | |
| Come ere night around me darken: | |
| Though thy softness but deceive me, | |
| Say thou ’rt true, and I ’ll believe thee. | 10 |
| Veil, if ill, thy soul’s intent: | |
| Let me think it innocent! | |
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| Save thy toiling, spare thy treasure: | |
| All I ask is friendship’s pleasure: | |
| Let the shining ore lie darkling; | 15 |
| Bring no gem in lustre sparkling; | |
| Gifts and gold are nought to me: | |
| I would only look on thee; | |
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| Tell to thee the high-wrought feeling, | |
| Ecstasy but in revealing; | 20 |
| Paint to thee the deep sensation, | |
| Rapture in participation, | |
| Yet but torture, if comprest | |
| In a lone unfriended breast. | |
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| Absent still? Ah, come and bless me! | 25 |
| Let these eyes again caress thee. | |
| Once, in caution, I could fly thee. | |
| Now I nothing could deny thee. | |
| In a look if death there be, | |
| Come, and I will gaze on thee! | 30 |
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