Temptation lurks in every leaf
-Of printed page or cover,
Whene'er I Haunt the book-shops old,
-Their treasures rare discover;
Or when, in choicest catalogues,
-Among which I'm a rover,
My heart leaps up their names to see,-
-For am I not their lover?
I linger o'er each dainty page
-With loving touch and tender;
But find their sweet, seductive charms
-Soon call me to surrender.
Brave fight, 'twixt heart and my lean purse,
-My loved books' strong defender!
More precious for the valiant strife
-That love is called to render!
But when in Bibliopolis
-Their dear forms round me cluster,
While rank on rank and file on file
-In gathering numbers muster,
Think you I mind the sordid tongues
-That soulless talk and bluster,
Or weigh, against their priceless worth,
-The golden dollar's lustre?
Ah, no! since there are drink and food
-For which the soul has longings,
And in its daily, upward strife,
-Finds both in such belongings,-
Dear books! loved friends, full meet ye are
-To greet the earliest dawnings
Of all the happiest days in life,
-Of all its brightest mornings!
------- Harriette C. S. Buckham.