Within the kingdom of my Soul
I bid you enter, Love, to-day;
Submit my life to your control,
And give my Heart up to your sway.
My Past, whose light and life is flown,
Shall live through memory for you still;
Take all my Present for your own,
And mould my Future to your will.
One only thought remains apart,
And will for ever so remain;
There is one Chamber in my heart
Where even you might knock in vain.
A haunted Chamber: - long ago
I closed it, and I cast the key
Where deep and bitter waters flow,
Into a vast and silent sea.
Dear, it is haunted. All the rest
Is yours; but I have shut that door
For ever now.‘ Tis even best
That I should enter it no more.
No more. It is not well to stay
With ghosts; their very look would scare
Your joyous, loving smile away —
So never try to enter there.
Check, if you love me, all regret
That this one thought remains apart: -
Now let us smile, dear, and forget
The haunted Chamber in my Heart.