SECRET LOVE

Oft the confession of my changeless love
Your close-drawn lattice in the night must hear:
The moon, befriending hearts bereft of cheer,
Knows well my longing as she gleams above:

Your name is cooed to me by that wild dove
Whose haunts I visit when the eve is near:
At morn my madrigals glad-voiced and clear
Fill with their ecstasy the hill and grove.

To you alone my secret reaches never,
Howe'er my heartbeat strives to tell the tale
Unbidden, ardent in a dear endeavor.

Perchance for all time shall its message fail,
As falls unheard where Ocean throbs forever
The rill's faint call that tinkles down the vale.