DEDICATION.

Even to thee, who, not in faith less strong
Than her whose suffering endeth with my tale,
Hast not been tempted to forego the veil

Which is our pure love's sanction to the throng,-

Even to thee, with whom this isle of song,

This isle of rest from many a former gale,

Of rest ere once more westward strives our sail,Hath been the shore of which I dreamed so long;—

O unto thee, thou pearl of price unknown
By all save Him whose is the infinite sea
In depths of which thy perfectness hath grown,
This sonnet comes ambassador from me;
And asks thy grace to call that work thine own

Whose every virtue lives enlarged in thee.

PREFACE.

REPRESENTATIONS have been made to the author that his present Poem is open to grave misconstructions, which nothing but an explanatory preface can guard against. Much against his inclination, therefore, (having in view the impropriety of seeming to criticise his own work,) he inserts these few lines to say that, whatever object he may have had in view, he certainly did not write this Poem with the idea of advocating indiscriminate abolition of all forms of marriage.

He hopes,

moreover, that as the Poem is entirely dramatic.

its catastrophe will be accepted as sufficient evi

dence of his freedom from such an intention.