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SONNET: SEMELE by CONSTANCE CAROLINE WOODHILL NADEN

First Line: FOR HER WHO LOVES A GOD, ALL HOPE MUST DIE
Last Line: IF LIFE BE DARKNESS, LET IT CEASE IN LIGHT.

FOR her who loves a God, all hope must die
Of sweet familiar joys, that daily move
A woman's soul; of gentle cares, that prove
Her free devotion; of the answering eye,
Where speaks the heart, and hears each mute reply:
Yes, these and more she lacks; yet far above
That earthly home, expands her heaven of love,
And he she worships glows in sea and sky.

She whom the Sun has wooed -- for whom his rays
Have shone but once, unclouded -- well may wait
Through blackest night; her hope is one with fate:
Let me behold thee, Zeus! Dispel the haze
That shields too tenderly my mortal sight:
If life be darkness, let it cease in light.






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