Page:All quiet along the Potomac and other poems.djvu/106

Far more than doll in dainty dress,
With ruddy lip and golden tress,
For Daisy passed, with that caress,
Away for ever.

There babyhood told its last hour,
And time with strange, resistless power,
Flung off the calyx of life s flower,
Unclosed for ever.

Ah, daughter Daisy ! on the strand
Of life s bright wave I see thee stand,
While toys slip idly from thy hand,
Shattered for ever,

Clasping new bubbles as they rise,
Grasping the bow on summer skies,
That promises to maiden eyes
Gay tints for ever.

I, who have seen the shifting sun
Unmask cloud-pageants one by one,
See only vapors cold and dun
Around me ever.

Yet no dark shadow will I hold,
To chill thee with its gloom and cold;
God keep thine heart from growing old,
Now and for ever !

So let the painted plaything lie,
With but a brief and sinless sigh