TIMIDLY I cowered in the shadow of safety, but now, when the surge of joy carries my heart upon its crest, my heart clings to the cruel rock of its trouble. I sat alone in a corner of my house thinking it too narrow for any guest, but now when its door is flung open by an unbidden joy I find there is room for thee and for all the world. I walked upon tiptoe, careful of my person, perfumed, and adorned-but now when a glad whirlwind has overthrown me in the dust I laugh and roll on the earth at thy feet like a child.
THOU HAST come again to me in the burst of a sudden storm, filling my sky with the shudder of thy shadowy clouds. The Sun is hidden, the stars are lost; the red line of the road is merged in the mist of the rain; the wail of the wind comes across the water. Fitful showers, like ghastly fingers, strike the chords of some unseen harp, waking up the music of the dark, sweeping my heart with a shiver of sounds.