Her sweet Weight on my Heart a Night 1
Had scarcely deigned to lie－
When, stirring, for Belief's delight,
My Bride had slipped away－
If 'twas a Dream－made solid－just 5
The Heaven to confirm－
Or if Myself were dreamed of Her－
The power to presume－
With Him remain－who unto Me－9
Gave－even as to All－
A Fiction superseding Faith－
By so much－as 'twas real－
Had scarcely deigned to lie－
When, stirring, for Belief's delight,
My Bride had slipped away－
If 'twas a Dream－made solid－just 5
The Heaven to confirm－
Or if Myself were dreamed of Her－
The power to presume－
With Him remain－who unto Me－9
Gave－even as to All－
A Fiction superseding Faith－
By so much－as 'twas real－
(F.611/J.518)
[1] Her:: Goodman Brown's wife called Faith, a character in Howthorne's short story Young Goodman Brown. a Night:: Brown travelled one night without telling his wife where and why.
[4] Bride, away:: they just married for three months; Faith slipped to the same place her husband went.
[5–8] Dream:: Goodman didn't know if the meeting in woods, villagers, Faith and devil, was a dream or not.
[11] Faith:: a hint on the novel, name of Goodman's wife.
[12] real:: Goodman believed what he saw that night was not a dream.
And when be had lived long, and was borne to his grave, a hoary corpse, followed by Faith, an aged woman, and children and grand-children, a goodly procession, besides neighbors, not a few, they carved no hopeful verse upon his tomb-stone; for his dying hour was gloom. ─ Young Goodman Brown, The New-England Magazine (1835)