ACQUAINTED WITH GRIEF.
209
My Love set it safe in a crystal glass,
Gently as petals float down at noon.
Low, in a whisper, my Love's voice said:
"Look quick! In an hour it will be dead.
I picked it because it will die so soon.
Now listen, dear Heart, as the seconds pass,
What the rose will say," my Love's voice said.
Gently as petals float down at noon.
Low, in a whisper, my Love's voice said:
"Look quick! In an hour it will be dead.
I picked it because it will die so soon.
Now listen, dear Heart, as the seconds pass,
What the rose will say," my Love's voice said.
I look and I listen. The flushed pink brim
Is still as June's warmest after-glow;
Silent as stars the gold stamens swim,
Tremble and swim in their sea of snow.
I dare not breathe on the crystal glass,
Lest one sweet petal should fall too soon.
False was the whisper my Love's voice said,—
If he had not picked it, it had been dead;
But now it will live an eternal noon,
And I shall hear as the seconds pass
What the rose will say till I am dead.
Is still as June's warmest after-glow;
Silent as stars the gold stamens swim,
Tremble and swim in their sea of snow.
I dare not breathe on the crystal glass,
Lest one sweet petal should fall too soon.
False was the whisper my Love's voice said,—
If he had not picked it, it had been dead;
But now it will live an eternal noon,
And I shall hear as the seconds pass
What the rose will say till I am dead.
ACQUAINTED WITH GRIEF.
OST know Grief well? Hast known her long?So long, that not with gift or smile,
Or gliding footstep in the throng,
She can deceive thee by her guile?
So long, that with unflinching eyes
Thou smilest to thyself apart,
To watch each flimsy, fresh disguise
She plans to stab anew thy heart?
Thou smilest to thyself apart,
To watch each flimsy, fresh disguise
She plans to stab anew thy heart?
