Ralph Waldo Emerson — Lines

WRITTEN BY ELLEN LOUISA TUCKER SHORTLY BEFORE HER MARRIAGE TO MR. EMERSON Love scatters oil         On Life's dark sea, Sweetens its toil—         Our helmsman he. Around him hover         Odorous clouds; Under this cover         His arrows he shrouds. The cloud was around me,         I knew not why Such sweetness crowned me.         While Time shot by. No pain was within,         But calm delight, Like a world without sin,         Or a day without night. The shafts of the god         Were tipped with down, For they drew no blood,         And they knit no frown. I knew of them not          Until Cupid laughed loud, And saying "You're caught!"         Flew off in the cloud. O then I awoke,         And I lived but to sigh, Till a clear voice spoke,—         And my tears are dry.