Her bridal dawn! her heart was fed br Last night with eerie food, br As, one by one, her lovers dead br Came in the solitude, br And shared the last sad feast with her br In Beauty's grave, as if it were br To-morrow, white and cold, br The ghost of all that she had been br Would pass away for e'er, as e'en br Their dreams had died of old. br Each, with his sigil of despair, br Moved in the eerie room, br For all were cognisant (as e'er br All are beyond the tom br That one night more the virgin tie br Which had bound them would be put by, br As she felt passion's stir br Throb in her maidenhood, until br All that she was, for good and ill, br Became a dream to her. br And so with mystic eyes and ears br They came to say good-bye, br Who had been her bright girlhood's peers br And knew e'en love must die — br That it must be a shadow, too, br As life had long been in the blue br And golden light above; br And as each pledged her in the dim br Remoteness, there came over him br The last desire of love.