A Transformation.
How did she change me : who can tell ?1
I met her, and a pleasing spell2
Touched with a colour all its own3
My lonely life’s gray monotone ;4
Hopes that I only knew by name5
Awoke expectant when she came ;6
Feelings, like buds ’neath sunny skies,7
Warmed by the summer of her eyes,8
Bloomed vividly ; and I, whose heart9
Had seemed a thing from life apart—10
I who had lived amid the throng11
In silence—heard an opening song12
Shake through its prelude blithe and free13
When first she smiled to welcome me.14