Page:All quiet along the Potomac and other poems.djvu/58

"Then what will you do with it, Jennie,
When found, the small treasure you seek?"
"Ah, a clover, four-leaved, is so lucky
To wear with a wish for a week."

"Just beside you I spy out one nodding;"
Her eager hands caught it with care.
I heard, I am sure, a small whisper,
And pink flushed the forehead so fair

As she kissed the leaf, tenderly laying
Its quadruple petals in place
In the narrow-arched sole of her slipper,
With hopeful content on her face.

*****
The world wore its garlands of verdure,
Its crowns, mingled roses and rue,
Many times ere I met little Jennie—
Not "Bell" any longer, I knew.

Ah, the face had grown wan and despairing,
The hand very slender and weak
That extended itself for the token
I gathered, my greetings to speak.

"Did it bring you good luck, little Jennie,
The wish of your heart, Jennie dear?"
As she stooped o'er the bunch of green leaflets
I saw the swift shine of a tear;

And I saw, in that globule of sorrow
(Sad lens made of pitiful rain)