Ten years together without yet a cloud 
They seek each other's eyes at intervals 
Of gratefulness to firelight and four walls 
For love's obliteration of the crowd. 
Serenely and perennially endowed 
And bowered as few may be, their joy recalls 
No snake, no sword; and over them there falls 
The blessing of what neither says aloud. 

Wiser for silence, they were not so glad 
Were she to read the graven tale of lines 
On the wan face of one somewhere alone; 
Nor were they more content could he have had 
Her thoughts a moment since of one who shines 
Apart, and would be hers if he had known.