THE WOMAN'S WORLD.

Oh! to be alone! To escape from the work, the play, The talking, everyday; To escape from all I have done, And all that remains to do. To escape, yes, even from you, My only love, and be Alone, and free.

Could I only stand Between gray moor and gray sky Where the winds and the plovers cry, And no man is at hand. And feel the free wind blow On my rain-wet face, and know I am free—not yours—but my own. Free—and alone!

For the soft fire-light And the home of your heart, my dear, They hurt—being always here. I want to stand up—upright And to cool my eyes in the air And to see how my back can bear Burdens—to try, to know, To learn, to grow!

I am only you! I am yours—part of you—your wife! And I have no other life. I cannot think, cannot do, I cannot breathe, cannot see; There is "us," but there is not "me"— And worst, at your kiss, I grow Contented so.