Page:Poems Piatt.djvu/130

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DOUBLE QUATRAINS.
I.

"WE WOMEN."

Heart-ache and heart-break—always that or this,
Sometimes it rains just when the sun should shine;
Sometimes a glove or ribbon goes amiss;
Sometimes, in youth, your lover should be mine.

Still madam frets at life, through pearls and lace
(A breath can break her pale heart's measured beat),
And still demands the maid who paints her face
Shall find the world for ever smooth and sweet.

II.

WORD OF COUNSEL.

Others will kiss you while your mouth is red.
Beauty is brief. Of all the guests who come
While the lamp shines on flowers, and wine, and bread,
In time of famine who will spare a crumb?