Rings as Gifts

Gifts of rings by lovers have always been common; but the intimate relation between husband and wife brings toils, duties and sacrifices which generally charm off ordinary love tokens. It is comforting, however, when the husband can look to the past, to the present, to the future with sentiments like those embraced in the following beautiful lines in connection with the gift of a ring:

"TO MRS.--, WITH A RING.

"'Thee, Mary, with this ring I wed,'--

So, sixteen years ago, I said--

Behold another ring--for what?

To wed thee o'er again? Why not?

With that first ring I married youth,

Grace, beauty, innocence and truth,

Taste long admir'd, sense long rever'd

And all my Mary then appeared.

If she, by merit since disclosed,

Prove twice the woman I supposed:

I plead that double merit now

To justify a double vow.

Here then to-day (with faith as sure,

With ardor as intense and pure,

As when amidst the rites divine

I took thy troth and plighted mine)

To thee, sweet girl, my second ring,

A token and a pledge I bring,

With this I wed till death us part

Thy riper virtues to my heart;

Those virtues which, before untried,

The wife has added to the bride;

Those virtues, whose progressive claim,

Endearing wedlock's very name,

My soul enjoys, my song approves,

For conscience' sake, as well as love's.

For why?--They show me hour by hour

Honor's high thought, affection's power,

Discretion's deed, sound judgment's sentence,

And teach me all things--but repentance."

And there is a charm and gentleness about the following lines which Dr. Drennan addressed to his wife, with a gift of a ring:

"Emblem of happiness! not bought nor sold;

Accept this modest ring of virgin gold.

Love, in this small, but perfect, circle trace;

And duty, in its soft but strict embrace.

Plain, precious, pure, as best becomes the wife;

Yet firm to bear the frequent rubs of life.

Connubial life disdains a fragile toy,

Which rust can tarnish and a touch destroy;

Nor much admires what courts the general gaze,

The dazzling diamond's meretricious blaze,

That hides, with glare, the anguish of a heart,

By nature hard, but polished bright by art.

More to thy taste the ornament that shows

Domestic bliss and, without glaring, glows,

Whose gentle pressure serves to keep the mind

To all correct; to one discreetly kind--

Of simple elegance the unconscious charm;

The holy amulet to keep from harm.

To guard, at once and consecrate, the shrine--