Celebates

 They must not wed the Doctor said,
 For they were far from strong,
And children of their marriage bed
 Might not live overlong.

And yet each eve I saw them pass
 With rapt and eager air,
As fit a seeming lad and lass
 As ought to pair.


For twenty years I went away
 And scoured the China Sea,
Then homing came and found that they
 Were still sweet company.

The Doctor and the Priest had banned
 Three times their wedding ties,
Yet they were walking hand in hand,
 Love in their eyes.


And then I went away again
 For years another score,
And sailored all the Spanish Main
 Ere I returned once more;
And now I see them pass my gate,
 So slow and stooped and grey,
And when I asked them: "Why not mate?"
 "We do," they say.


"No priest and village bells we need,
 No Doctor to approve;
The Lord has wedded us indeed
 With everlasting love.

How wonderful to understand
 The working of His will!
Lo! We are walking hand in hand,
 And sweethearts still.
"

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