The Difference Poem by Elizabeth Stuart Phelps Ward

The breakers warned them from the sea,
The late light lured them up the shore;
The jewels of the golden-rod
Blazed deep as topaz to the core;
The far fields watched them silently
And blessed them like the peace of God.


'If we could always walk,' she said,
'As now we're walking up the shore,
I think how happy we might be!
To walk and talk forevermore,
Without a care without a dread,
That were enough for you and me!'


'O cruel-calm! you know,' said he,
'The man who dares to spend with you
An hour like this on sea or shore,
Can never teach his fancy to
Practise such sweet humility,
Must all his life go wanting more!'