An Ideal Come True
I somehow think I would care for you
If your eyes were not of the violet’s hue,
If your hair were not such a tawny gold,
And if you were older than you are old.
And if you never had lived I know
That all of my lifetime’s to and fro,
Through lurking shadow and sunlit way,
I’d love you as much as I do today.
I would see you as clearly as I do now,
Your lips ripe red and your smooth, white brow,
And if through life I had walked alone
You would still be with me, my own, my own.
For you are my ideal girl come true—
Ah, heaven is good! I am glad for you!
I am glad that the cup it is mine to quaff
Holds the bubbling joy of our happy laugh.
I am glad for the paths it was ours to go
Together; that all of the ways we know
Are as dear to both as they are to one;
The broad, deep river, the shallow run,
The mountains high, and the valleys deep,
Where days the shadows of night-time sleep;
For the umber shadows where mockbirds sing,
For the goldenrod where the medlarks swing.
And, dear, I know I would care for you
If your eyes were not of the violet’s hue;
And would stoop to your red, red lips for toll,
For your soul and my soul are soul to soul.