Sara Teasdale, comp. (1884–1933).
The Answering Voice: One Hundred Love Lyrics by Women. 1917.
Katharine Tynan
I
Sudden I knew you were not there.
The easy, common sentence broke
Against the unanswering air.
And to my ear the terror said,
Where nothing spoke and nothing stirred,—
Dear God, if he were dead!
Your voice brought comfort to my fear.
But, fluttering like a frightened mouse,
My heart beat at my ear.
On the warm hearth spirted the flame.
Yet—menace of an empty place—
Lord, if he never came!