THE altar, 'tis of death! for there are laid The sacrifice of all youth's sweetest hopes. It is a dreadful thing for woman's lip To swear the heart away; yet know that heart Annuls the vow while speaking, and shrinks back From the dark future that it dares not face. The service read above the open grave Is far less terrible than that which seals The vow that binds the victim, not the will: For in the grave is rest. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...ASTROPHEL AND STELLA: 14 by PHILIP SIDNEY LINES TO THE MEMORY OF ANNIE WHO DIED AT MILAN, JUNE 6, 1860 by HARRIET BEECHER STOWE THE BALLAD OF DEAD LADIES by FRANCOIS VILLON TO AMERICA, ON HER FIRST SONS FALLEN IN THE GREAT WAR by E. M. WALKER PASSAGE TO INDIA by WALT WHITMAN EPIGRAM: 18. THE ENEMY OF LIFE by THOMAS WYATT |