Sonnet CXXXIII:
Closer and closer draw thou to my side!
Thou hast more need of love than ever yet
Since first thy feet upon this path were set;
A serious need, that will not be denied.
A drop of dew will wake the rose’s pride,
But Heaven’s great rains will hardly serve to wet
The arid desert which our footsteps fret
In that accursed dearth we now must bide.
And if between us doubt and danger roll,
And I all vainly seek thy outstretched hand
To guide thee safely to a better land,
Yield not with desperate haste thy fate’s control.
Though in the body we divided stand,
We must draw closer, Darling, in the soul.
October 17, 1864
